Since its illegal invasion of Iraq, the Bush Administration has consistently claimed that the occupation was only temporary, that US troops would eventually go home, and that the US would not establish permanent bases in Iraq. In 2005, then-Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said "we have no intention at the present time of putting permanent bases in Iraq". In 2006, the US proconsul ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told the US Congress "We have no goal of establishing permanent bases". And just a few months ago, we had a seemingly ironclad commitment from President Bush: "We won't have permanent bases".
As usual, it turns out they were all lying. According to the Independent, the US is trying to force Iraq to sign up to a "strategic alliance" which would allow them to stay in Iraq forever:
Under the terms of the new treaty, the Americans would retain the long-term use of more than 50 bases in Iraq. American negotiators are also demanding immunity from Iraqi law for US troops and contractors, and a free hand to carry out arrests and conduct military activities in Iraq without consulting the Baghdad government.In other words, permanent war, permanent occupation, and Iraq reduced to a military client and long-term base for American aggression in the region. As for "democracy", this bit speaks for itself:
The US is adamantly against the new security agreement being put to a referendum in Iraq, suspecting that it would be voted down.The Iraqi people don't want this. Unfortunately, because the US controls their security arrangements, Iraq's politicians will have little choice to sign up for it.
