wrh.com Webmaster's Commentary:
Is it any wonder that the Muslim and Arab world has gone down the Zionist sewer!! What SHAME they have brought to that part of the world! These bases, signaling wars without end, are truly monuments to this government's and military's skewed priorities, while our infrastructure rots, homelessness is on the rise, and food banks can't keep up with the demand.' Out of Iraq, Into the Gulf <http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2009/11/22/out-of-iraq-into-the-gulf /> http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2009/11/22/out-of-iraq-into-the-gulf/ Tags: MIDDLE EAST <http://whatreallyhappened.com/taxonomy/term/88> So here's the mystery. You have a country that only recently had upward of <http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=8448762> 300 military bases, monster to micro, in a single war-torn land, Iraq. It probably now has something like 300 bases combined in Iraq and Afghanistan (where base-building is on the rise). Outside of those war zones, it has perhaps <http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/08/americas-unwelcome-advances> 800 more "facilities" (as they're called) around the globe and thousands more at home. Some of them are absolutely enormous, the equivalent of <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR200602030 2994_pf.html> small American towns with all the amenities of home. Without a doubt, this represents an accomplishment of some sort. Historically speaking, it's news of the first order. No other great power, from the Han Chinese and the Romans to the British Empire, has ever built so many military outposts in such far-flung places. So is this <http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/1181/chalmers_johnson_on_garrisoning_the_pl anet> empire of bases a matter of pride at home? Hardly. It's rarely thought about. It's not a matter for general discussion or mainstream debate, nor is it news, except on the rarest of occasions (usually when the government threatens to shut down domestic bases and job losses loom). Changes in Pentagon global basing policy are for Washington policy wonks, not ordinary Americans, and certainly not American reporters. From the mainstream media, you get at best a kind of shrug on the subject. Yes, from time to time, you can find a decent <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091101/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan_growing_bagr am> piece on an American military base abroad, but normally they are places where American TV reporters can safely set up their cameras and discuss other matters entirely. News about U.S. military bases being built or upgraded in distant lands is usually <http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174807/> left to Web sites like TomDispatch to <http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174858> keep track of. When it comes to the Middle East, the <http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1118/p06s10-wome.html> building of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem or the West Bank, or of secret <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/26/world/middleeast/26nuke.html> nuclear facilities in Iran are major news subjects, but the building up of U.S. base infrastructure in the region? Not so much. If, for the first time in its history, the U.S. Navy sets up a permanent strike force based in Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, Expeditionary Strike Group 5, remember to <http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091112/FOREIGN/71111 9892/1135/commentary> check the National, the English-language paper in the United Arab Emirates, for it, not your local rag or the Washington Post, New York Times, or Wall Street Journal. Mind you, we're talking about the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, the unsettled oil and natural gas heartland of the planet, yet not a peep. A basic principle taught to any young reporter is: "follow the money." A similar principle should apply to U.S. foreign policy reporting: follow the bases. As striking facts-on-the-ground, such bases tell us much about bedrock U.S. policy, whatever the policy debates in Washington. If the mainstream media ignores such bases, TomDispatch has long made it a policy of keeping an eye on them. Recently, Nick Turse, this site's associate editor and the award-winning author of <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805089195/antiwarbookstore> The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives, reported on a <http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175135/nick_turse_in_afghanistan_the_pentag on_digs_in> story only modestly and partially covered here: the way the Pentagon has been pouring money into building up its base infrastructure in Afghanistan. If, for the first time in its history, the U.S. Navy sets up a permanent strike force based in Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, Expeditionary Strike Group 5, remember to check the National, the English-language paper in the United Arab Emirates, for it, not your local rag or the Washington Post, New York Times, or Wall Street Journal. Mind you, we're talking about the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, the unsettled oil and natural gas heartland of the planet, yet not a peep. The Pentagon Garrisons the Gulf As Washington talks Iraq withdrawal, the Pentagon builds up bases in the region by Nick Turse ' Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee early this year, Gen. David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), stated: "The Arabian Peninsula commands significant U.S. attention and focus because of its importance to our interests and the potential for insecurity." He <http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:Kt-hvr0zm00J:armed-services.senate .gov/statemnt/2009/April/Petraeus%252004-01-09.pdf+petraeus+%22the+countries +of+the+Arabian+Peninsula%22&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgfWXBDHrK87Gbaas jm9BppV4RrbMtmTtg_nOA3d-GLxFML4u9EOflk-bgAQ1IwW2SlL7sug-31JFAH8W7Xo6YYINBapE VhAbnbPFCXoh_w6sFiUpT9p0k03MgHFLs1pJ7gVyBy&sig=AFQjCNEw-W_zgF4TVrdYsrKU0oBwo M5C7Q> continued: "[T]he countries of the Arabian Peninsula are key partners . CENTCOM ground, air, maritime, and special operations forces participate in numerous operations and training events, bilateral and multilateral, with our partners from the Peninsula. We help develop indigenous capabilities for counter terrorism; border, maritime, and critical infrastructure security; and deterring Iranian aggression. As a part of all this, our FMS [foreign military sales] and FMF [foreign military financing] programs are helping to improve the capabilities and interoperability of our partners' forces. We are also working toward an integrated air and missile defense network for the Gulf. All of these cooperative efforts are facilitated by the critical base and port facilities that Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE [United Arab Emirates], and others provide for U.S. forces." Qatar: The Pentagon's Persian Gulf Pentagon In 1996, although it had no air force of its own, the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar built <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/28/international/worldspecial/28BASE.html> al- Udeid Air Base at a cost of more than $1 billion. The goal: attracting the U.S. military. In September 2001, U.S. aircraft began to operate out of the facility. By 2002, tanks, armored vehicles, dozens of warehouses, communications and computing equipment, and thousands of troops were based <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/qatar-base-may-provide- permanent-home-for-us-troops-607273.html> at and around al-Udeid. In 2005, the Qatari government spent almost $400 million to build a cutting-edge <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/18/international/middleeast/18bases.html> regional air operations center. Bahrain's Bases and Kuwait's Subways In nearby Bahrain - a tiny kingdom of 750,000 people - the U.S. <http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL1921686420070219?pageNumber=2&virtualBra ndChannel=0> stations up to 3,000 personnel, in addition to regular visits by the crews of Navy ships that spend time there. Between 2001-2009, the Navy awarded $203 million in construction contracts for military projects in the country. One big winner over that span has been the engineering and construction firm <http://www.contrack.com/> Contrack International. It received more than $50 million in U.S. government funds for such projects as building two "multi-story facilities for the U.S. Navy" complete with state-of-the-art communication interfaces and exterior landscaping.' Saudi Base Building and Jordan's U.S. Army Training Complex According to a recent Congressional Research Service report, "From 1950 through 2006, Saudi Arabia purchased and received from the United States weapons, military equipment, and related services through foreign military sales (FMS) worth over $62.7 billion and foreign military construction services (FMCS) worth over $17.1 billion." Between 1946 and 2007, the Saudis also benefited from almost $295 million in foreign assistance funding from the U.S. military.' Garrisoning the Gulf Even as it lurches toward a quasi-withdrawal from Iraq, the U.S. military has been hunkering down and hardening its presence elsewhere in the Middle East with little fanfare or press coverage. There has been almost no discussion in this country of a host of possible repercussions that might come from this, ranging from local opposition to the U.S. military's presence to the arming of undemocratic and repressive regimes in the region. With the sole exception of Iran, the U.S. military has fully garrisoned the nations of the Persian Gulf with air bases, naval bases, desert posts, training centers, and a whole host of other facilities, while also building up the military capacity of nearby Jordan.' _____ Bagram no doubt where Torture techniques are run by Mossad Jews Bagram: A living hell <http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m60364&hd=&size=1&l=e> http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m60364 <http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m60364&hd=&size=1&l=e> &hd=&size=1&l=e Tags: TORTURE/WAR <http://whatreallyhappened.com/taxonomy/term/102> CRIMES The US military has allowed journalists into its newly expanded secret detention centre at Bagram air base in Afghanistan this week. The base has been described by campaigners as Guantanamo Bay's "more evil twin" and the allegations of torture and murder within its secretive walls continue to this day. The US claims this is proof of its determination to provide greater transparency and openness in its policy of extraordinary rendition and detention without trial. The claim was somewhat undermined by the fact that the touring journalists had no access to the hundreds of inmates held at the facility. Webmaster's Commentary: There can be absolutely no transparency in a process which embraces extraordinary rendition and detention without trial! The existence of this prison, as well as Guantanamo (and the others we don't know about) are an "in-your-face" affront to every American value moral thinking Americans cherish, period, end of discussion. US <http://news.antiwar.com/2009/11/22/us-plans-to-copy-iraq-prison-strategy-in -afghanistan/> Plans to Copy Iraq Prison Strategy in Afghanistan <http://news.antiwar.com/2009/11/22/us-plans-to-copy-iraq-prison-strategy-in -afghanistan/> http://news.antiwar.com/2009/11/22/us-plans-to-copy-iraq-prison-strategy-in- afghanistan/ Tags: AFGHANISTAN <http://whatreallyhappened.com/category/afghanistan> Following with the trend of trying to shoehorn the dubious Iraq War strategy onto Afghanistan, the US Army says that it intends to copy its prison strategy from Iraq in Afghanistan. Brigadier General Quantock <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hP6rL5Oi9ezji3nCYTMQlE8C f3Pg> touted the Iraqi prison system as a great success, citing the relatively small percentage of released detainees who were re-captured. It may come as a considerable surprise that the general considers America's prison strategy in Iraq such an unabashed success, particularly <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/world/africa/01iht-detain.4.13375130.html > since it wasn't that long ago that they were scrambling to reform the disastrous system. And in fact, the recidivism numbers cited are misleading, as one of the most common complaints was that the US tactic of mass arrests had led many innocent people into the prison system simply for being near a militant attack and eventually released without ever being charged with any crimes Moreover, Iraq's police have long complained that the US detention system, with its brutal reputation, amounts to a series of "terrorist factories" where innocent detainees and petty criminals are radicalized. Brig. Gen. Quantock dismissed these claims and was quick to lay the blame on Iraq's legal system. Yet if this is a problem in Iraq and will be doubly so in Afghanistan, one of the most corrupt and lawless nations on the planet. wrh.com Webmaster's Commentary: One of the classic definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different outcome. ------------- Canadian diplomat alleges troops in Afghanistan were complicit in torture http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/20/canada-allegations-complicit-tor ture-afghanistan _____ *** exposing the hidden truth for further educational research only *** CAVEAT LECTOR *** In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. NOTE: Some links may require cut and paste into your Internet Browser. Please check for daily real news posts and support the truth! 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