Even on TomDispatch, where everything is first-rate, Tom Englehardt's articles stand out for their clarity and painstaking research. In this piece Tom continues his long-term focus on what is actually happening on the ground in Iraq. It is a good antidote to MSM coverage which relies a lot on generalities: The surge is working! These are facts, figures, and quotes gleaned from a wide variety of sources. I think it wouldn't have been a distraction to touch on the US government's definition of "permanent base"; according to a Pentagon spokesperson, there is no definition!

A story that has been dying to be done. five stars.

This story is essential reading for those trying to follow the creation of a vastly expensive American empire in the Middle East, intended to enable Israel to retain most of the illegal settlements in the West Bank. The foolish decision to keep permanent American military bases in Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War led directly to both attacks on the World Trade Center in NYC. Iraq can never achieve stability with a massive US military presence in the country. This story confirms that obtaining permanent military bases in Iraq was part of the game plan from day one of the Bush administration's planning for the invasion and occuaption.

one section of a book, this story has a lot of information about a little-covered subject about what so much of our dollars are doing in iraq. the author includes the military coverage of these bases being built and also the recent (finally) coverage by the main news media, and the negative reactions of the iraqi people which brought it to their attention.

This opinion piece suffers from a lack of context. The author seems to be totally unaware of what the U.S. did after World War II in establishing bases in Western Europe and the Far East. The author also does not mention existing U.S. bases in the Middle East. The word "Kuwait" is not used even once in this long piece! The sources seem mainly to be far right America First blogs. A wider range of expertise is needed to provide a proper analysis of the issue.

WOW!! Excellent article, informative, honest and compelling. All the deceptions and intrigue in the name of power and control, how demoralizing for our country, service members, and citizens. Money wasted, social programs cut, people suffering, when will the madness end?