Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses how the Obama administration pushed hard for an extended Iraq troop presence, got rejected, then spun it as fulfillment of a campaign promise; why the Iraq War’s principal aim was to establish a massive military garrison from which to project power in the Middle East; the long-term training of Iraqi pilots on US fighter jets; and why the huge US embassy in Baghdad may not have enough force protection to secure it – conjuring images of rooftop helicopter rescues in Saigon.
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