A Battlefield Tourist

Long Term US Presence in Northern Iraq is Moving Forward

Jul 24 at 4:04pm by David Tate

Over the past several weeks, more and more evidence is mounting that a long term US presence in the Kurdish region of Iraq is in the works.

On July 16 the mayor of Halabja, Khadr Karim Mohammad, told the Aswat al-Iraqi news agency that the regional government in Sulaimaniyah Province has agreed to sell 1,500 acres of land east of town to the Americans to build an airport. Mohammad believes the airport will actually be an American airbase.

Halabja lies just under seven miles from the border with Iran and was the scene of a massacre of more than 5,000 Kurds during one of many Saddam-era offensives that targeted Kurdish civilians and rebel fighters alike.

The report claims a second source within the provincial government acknowledges that US officials have surveyed the site several times and that the project is being paid for by the Americans.  “The project is much larger than just a civilian airport…”, the unidentified source reportedly said. 

While the Americans do not deny the Halabja project is underway, US officials deny the airport is a “cover” for a military base. 

The report of a possible US airbase in the Kurdish region is just one of several recent suggestions that any long term US presence in Iraq will most likely include, if not be relegated to, the Kurdish region.  The cities of Zakho and Arbil have also been mentioned frequently as possible sites for future US bases.

Jabr al-Yawir, spokesman for the Protection Forces of the Kurdistan Region, recently told the Gulf News that, ”A permenent US presence in the Kurdistan region is welcome and is neccesary to protect Iraq from internal and external risks…”, but that the presence must be within an “Iraqi-Kurd-American” agreement because Kurdistan is the only place a US base can be present in Iraq without continuing to fuel the insurgency.

Al-Yawir suggests that US bases in Mosul and Kirkuk are fuelling armed resistance in those areas and permenant bases in either of those regions would continue to do so.

The Gulf News report also claims that US and Iraqi officials are currently working out an agreement that will solidify a defensive agreement for years to come.  Those talks are reportedly ongoing with the latest round happening in the Kurdish capital, Arbil, July 20 between US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Kurdish Regional President Barazani. Barzani has long sought a permenant US presence in his region, with or without Baghdad’s support.