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COOPERATIVE SECURITY LOCATIONS? The National Journal, via Jason Sigger:
The recent House measure barring permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq won't dampen the spirits of Adm. William Fallon, the Pentagon's top commander in the Middle East. "We're not looking for permanent bases," he said in a July 27 interview. "Bases," Fallon explained, "is a term that elicits reactions, extreme and otherwise, from lots of people." In fact, the Pentagon has eliminated the word -- though not the general idea -- from its lexicon. Cognizant of a growing international aversion to hosting U.S. military facilities, the Rumsfeld Pentagon introduced the concept of more-austere "cooperative security locations," which Defense Secretary Robert Gates has since adopted. For his part, Fallon would not rule out using so-called CSLs in Iraq into the future. "But I'm not interested in permanent bases anywhere," the admiral said. "Except in the U.S."How long will it be before "CSL" becomes "a term that elicits reactions, extreme and otherwise, from lots of people?" And I also have to wonder who, precisely, this kind of language is supposed to fool. I don't know how "cooperative security location" translates into Arabic, but I doubt that many Iraqis will suddenly be cool with the idea of an extended U.S. military presence as long as it doesn't involve any "bases." The point, it seems to me, is simply to allow the Pentagon to lie to Congress and the media when asked point blank about basing plans. --Robert Farley
