US SENATE VOTES FOR NO PERMANENT BASES, OR US CONTROL OF OIL IN IRAQ

From the Inside Bay Area : "The US Senate accepted an amendment Wednesday...to prevent the creation of permanent military bases in Iraq.

The Senate amendment to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill to bankroll the (Iraq) war...puts the chamber on record against permament US military bases or control of oil in Iraq.

"As long as we keep the door to a permanent military presence open," said a senator, "we will continue to fuel the insurgency, undermine the security situation and keep the targets on our troops' back."

"A recent University of Maryland poll found 80 percent of Iraqis - and 92 percent of Iraq's Sunni Arabs - believe the United States plans a permanent military presence in their country."

The US has a number of massive bases in Iraq, which the US Military has claimed will eventually be handed over to the Iraq Army, but there is growing concern about the enormous 104 acre US embassy now under construction in Baghdad. The embassy will have a permanent US Military force established within its walls, making it an unofficial military base.

Go here for a story on the 104 acre US embassy.