BAGHDAD, 11 September 2007 — The US military said yesterday that it is to build a base on Iraq’s border with Iran to stem what it charges is rampant smuggling of weapons and fighters. The base, which the military describes as a “life support area,” will be set up near the headquarters of the Department of Border Enforcement in Badrah, in the central province of Wasit.
The province, currently the theater of a massive US-led military crackdown targeting Shiite militiamen allegedly involved in weapons smuggling, shares a 200 kilometer border with Iran. It said the base is “not really permanent, although it will be manned 24-7 and will be used for as long as necessary.”
The base will also accommodate some of the 2,000 Georgian soldiers being deployed in the province to staff new checkpoints being set up to control the border, the military said. “We’ve got a major problem with Iranian munitions streaming into Iraq,” Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the commander of US Army forces in central Iraq, was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal yesterday. “This Iranian interference is troubling and we have to stop it.”
The newspaper gave further details about the base, saying it will have living quarters for some 200 soldiers, will be built six kilometers from the border and should be completed by November. It said the US military also plans to install X-ray machines and explosives-detecting sensors at Zurbatiya, the main border crossing between Iran and Iraq.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki told lawmakers yesterday that Iraqi forces were not ready to take over security from the US military across the country. “There have been tangible improvements in security in the recent period in Baghdad and the provinces but it is not enough,” he told Parliament.
“Despite the security improvement, we still need more efforts and time in order for our armed forces to be able to take over security in all Iraqi provinces from the multinational forces that helped us in a great way in fighting terrorism and outlaws.”
Maliki made the comment hours before the US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and top US commander Gen. David Petraeus were to appear in the US Congress to deliver reports on Iraq’s progress amid a debate over calls to start bringing American troops home.
The two Americans were widely expected to maintain that this year’s troop buildup has reduced violent attacks in Baghdad and argue for more time to restore security. Maliki said that violence had dropped 75 percent in the Baghdad area since the US began pouring in additional troops at the start of the year. He gave no figures.
“The key to reconstruction, economic development and improving peoples’ standard of living is security,” he said.
