US military bases in Iraq
US military bases in Iraq
The largest military group of the US army in the Arab countries is the troops stationed in Iraq with a strength of about 50,000 troops (excluding Xe/Blackwater type mercenary armies). The military forces operate in three commands. The headquarters is located in Baghdad (Center), the North command is located near the city of Tikrit, the South command headquarters is located in Basra at the air force base.
The main task of US troops is to train and assist local security forces and the army. In addition, the US military periodically conducts special operations on the territory of Iraq aimed at destroying militants. According to the existing agreement between Iraq and the United States, American military forces must be withdrawn from the country no later than December 31 of this year. After the withdrawal of troops, no more than 150 US troops will remain in Iraq.
However, given the wave of Arab revolutions, as well as the clear manifestation of the US interest in maintaining its military contingent in Iraq after 2011, we can conclude that Washington will somehow be able to convince Baghdad to extend the agreement, even despite the protests of the local population. It should be recalled that the us military has repeatedly been responsible for the deaths of civilians in Iraq during special operations against militants. It should also be noted here that the majority of Shiites are opposed to American troops remaining in Iraq after 2011, which is more than half of the country's population.
However, the decision on the deployment of American troops in Iraq remains with the local government, which is clearly not United.
It is not surprising that most American military bases are located in the Persian Gulf, which is so rich in oil fields. In addition to the economic value, of course, we should not forget about the hostile relations between the United States and Iran.
The main airports used by the US air force are located in the UAE and Qatar. There is a large military base in Kuwait, and the headquarters of the 5th fleet of the Navy is located in Bahrain. These facilities allow the United States to ensure high efficiency of military forces in the event of a conflict with Iran, or an invasion of Yemen, in which it is likely that an anti-American government will come to power in the near future.
What Achilles ' heel was revealed by Iran's intelligence tools before the attack on us military targets
While both fortified (near Rakshana and Barbarosa) and the airbase "ain al-Assad", located at distances from 120 to 300 km of the estimated position of the Iranian PTRC, suffered a powerful blow 25-30 tactical ballistic missiles "Qiam" and "Zulfiqar" (range 700 and 800 km, respectively), a much more important (from a strategic point of view) airbase, "al-Udeid air base", "ISA", "al-Dafra" and "Prince Sultan», located at a similar distance from the positions of the Iranian RTRS and used by the US air force as jump airfields for tactical f-15E "Strike Eagle", multi-purpose fighters of the 5th generation F-22A, as well as strategic missile carriers B-1B "Lancer" and B-52H, remained intact.
Based on the above details, as well as on the statement of IRGC General Abdullah Araghi about the "demonstration" nature of this strike, aimed only at disabling a certain number of armored vehicles and army aircraft of the US armed forces, but not at achieving irreparable losses of personnel of the US and Iraqi armed forces, it is not difficult to conclude that the main goals of the leadership of Iran and the command of the Islamic revolutionary guard Corps in this phase of operation Martyr Suleimani were to strengthen Tehran in the geostrategic arena, so is the sobering effect on the Pentagon in General and the Us Central command (USCENTOM) in particular.
The last item was due to the impact on the above-mentioned objects in the Northern provinces of Iraq, which (unlike AVB "al-Udeid air base", "Prince Sultan", "ISA", etc.) was not covered by any anti-missile systems of average range "Patriot PAC-3MSE", no URO destroyers class "Arleigh Burke Flight," 5th operational fleet of the U.S. Navy (their ammo a long-range anti-aircraft missiles RIM-174 ERAM with a range of over 240 km)
Ain Assad Air Base on the map
The Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq is located 160 km from the West of Baghdad, in the Anbar province. Previously, the air base was called "al-Qadr", then it was called "Objective Webster", and now - Ain al-Asad.