July 2, 2003
Washington Post

U.S. Faces Long Stay In Iraq, Bush Says

Americans' Faith in Postwar Success Fading

by Dana Milbank

President Bush acknowledged yesterday that the United States faces a "massive and long-term undertaking" in Iraq, but said U.S. troops would prevail over what his administration described as well-trained militants that have been killing and injuring U.S. forces.

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Ilene R. Prusher, "In Volatile Iraq, US Curbs Press," Christian Science Monitor, June 19, 2003

David Rohde, "Iraqis Were Set to Vote, But U.S. Wielded a Veto," New York Times, June 19, 2003

Tom Shanker and Eric Schmitt, "Pentagon Expects Long-Term Access to Four Key Bases in Iraq," New York Times, April 20, 2003

[US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has denied that the US is planning long-term military involvement in Iraq, including bases. --"US denies Iraq bases plan," BBC, April 21, 2003]

Vernon Loeb, "New Bases Reflect Shift in Military," Washington Post, June 9, 2003

[We expect the Bush administration to use the technique applied with Egypt and Israel, both overloaded with new US weapons. The USA will rebuild the Iraqi army on condition that new weapons purchased for the armed forces will be made in the USA, which will supply much of the credit for their purchase with the rest coming from oil revenues.--"What Bush is doing in Iraq," Jane's, June 25, 2003]

[The Americans are secretly building two giant intelligence facilities in Iraq at a cost of some half a billion dollars, . . .

The Mosul facility will guard northern Iraq's oilfields and the pipelines carrying Iraqi gas and oil to Mediterranean terminals. Its instruments will reach into every corner of Iran and Syria, replacing America's electronic eyes and ears in southern Turkey. This facility will be activated a section at a time according to need. Upon completion at the end of 2005, it will employ an operating staff of around 4,000 American intelligence personnel and electronic engineers.

. . . the Baghdad station will stand guard over America's political and military control of the capital and its satellite towns, including the Sunni enclave cities of Falluja, Ramadi and Tikrit. --"Two Huge US Intelligence Centers Go up in Iraq," DEBKA-Net-Weekly, June 25, 2003]

[A leader of a prominent Shiite group accused the Bush administration on Wednesday of reneging on pledges to hand over power to local political groups in Iraq.--Salah Nasrawi, "Leading Iraqi Shiite Group Feels Betrayed by Americans," Associated Press, July 2, 2003]