Iraq and Iran

US plans military base near Iran

The Pentagon plans to build a military base near the Iran-Iraq border, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper quoted a senior US army commander as saying that the base will be used to try and prevent the flow of weapons by Shia fighters into Iraq.

Major-General Rick Lynch, the commander of the US army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said that the Pentagon also plans to build checkpoints on major highways leading from the Iranian border to Baghdad.

X-ray machines will be installed, as well as explosive-detecting sensors, the paper reported.

Well this news is pretty ominous, time to find my tinfoil hat. I think its a dead cert that Iran is going to be bombed, if not by the USA then by Israel and probably Saudi Arabia will give it tacit support, as they dislike Iran challenging their position in the Middle East.

Delusions

Hard Iraq choices loom, says Bush

US President George W Bush has said the conflict in Iraq will require "difficult choices and additional sacrifices" in the coming year.

Mr Bush called for an increase in the size of the US military, but he said he had not yet decided whether to boost troop numbers in Iraq.

He spoke as new US Defence Secretary Robert Gates began his first visit to Iraq, two days after taking office.

Mr Bush is expected to announce a new strategy for Iraq next month.

Everyone else realizes that there is no more troops to send to Iraq except Bush, McCain and Lieberman.

That the US military is a money making machine, there are currently around 120 thousand serving in Iraq but only 20-25 thousand are front line troops and all they doing are protecting the other personnel.