Iraq’s parliament overrode Pentagon plans for fifty-eight enduring bases after occupation ended

Evidence

In 2009, the government of Ecuador refused to renew the lease on the base at Manta. And in one of the most remarkable evictions in recent years, the Iraqi parliament refused to allow the United States to retain bases and troops in the country after the end of the U.S. occupation, despite the Pentagon’s desire to maintain as many as fifty-eight “enduring” bases in Iraq (some troops never left; the arrival of new troops to fight the Islamic State in 2014 saw a return to at least five bases). — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 946

Categorization

• QUESTION: The twenty-eighth remark that troops quietly stayed and then returned in 2014 complicates the ‘eviction’ narrative — worth tracking the actual 2014 re-basing against the claimed refusal.
• SHARE: The figure of fifty-eight planned ‘enduring’ bases in Iraq that parliament refused is a striking number for anyone following base politics.