US occupation developing Ain al-Asad base in Iraq at great expense

A well-informed security source in Iraq’s Al-Anbar province revealed on Monday that the US had spent large sums of money on developing buildings at Ain al-Asad airbase in the western part of the province.

“US forces have spent large sums of money on developing buildings at Ain al-Asad airbase in the Al-Baghdadi district of Heet district, west of Al-Anbar, which includes the construction of new buildings and the expansion and annexation of more area to the base,” the source said in an interview with Al-Maalomah.

The source added that US forces have built dozens of new halls and buildings for their forces inside the base, as well as a missile defense system to ensure Ain al-Asad’s security from drone strikes and missile operations.

“The operation to develop the existing buildings in Ain al-Asad is not carried out under the supervision of the security commanders in charge of the security case in Al-Anbar. The presence of US forces at the base is linked to the office of Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces. The expansion of the base still continues despite the fact that Baghdad and Washington announced that US forces would soon withdraw completely from Iraq,” the source noted.

Ain al-Asad airbase is located 160 km west of Baghdad, in Al-Anbar province, in the city of Heet, and 8 km from a village called Al-Baghdadi. It covers an area of 10 kilometers, which is about the size of Baghdad’s Green Zone and is currently the largest US military base in Iraq.

Recently, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and US President Joe Biden held a meeting and at the end of their meeting at the White House, they issued a joint statement. “Washington and Baghdad have agreed that the presence of US troops in Iraq will end by the end of 2021 and that the United States will respect Iraqi sovereignty and law.”