re: #710 Cato the Elder

Bullshit.

As an old Roman, I know better.

We are invited guests in Saudi Arabia. They can and could and might kick our asses out of there tomorrow.

Ditto Kuwait.

We conquered Iraq, and despite the “drawdown”, we will not ever leave there nor give up our rights as conqueror before it suits us. This Is What Empires Do. And as against the grain as it may be to some who think America is somehow exception to the rule, We Are An Empire.

Germany made peace with us and is officially an independent state. Do you really believe, if they asked us politely, that we would withdraw our bases from Germany?

Iraq: ours.

To counter Iran, to be used as an unsinkable aircraft carrier, to guard against the day when the Saudis ask us to go home, to secure the Persian Gulf, to spread our version of the truth, to buttress our Imperial might - from now until the sun sets on our sassy asses.

It’s also known as Realpolitik 101.

If your assessment is correct then all I can say is that it was a brilliant move by President Bush.

However, once our presence comes to and end there are no plans for permanent US military bases in Iraq.