Cities in the Sand: U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

U.S. Military bases in Iraq are being consolidated, but their footprint is hard to ignore. Many operate much like small cities, housing as many as 20,000 people and all the services and infrastructure they require.

1 minute read

September 10, 2009, 7:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg

"At the Subway, workers from India and Bangladesh make sandwiches for American soldiers looking for a taste of home. When the sandwich makers' shifts end, the journey home takes them past a power plant, an ice-making plant, a sewage treatment center, a hospital and dozens of other facilities one would expect to find in a small city.

And in more than six years, that is what Americans have created here: cities in the sand."

Each of the big bases in Iraq has its own wastewater treatment facilities, power generators, retail shops and even bus routes.

FULL STORY: Big U.S. Bases Are Part of Iraq, but a World Apart

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 in The New York Times

Infrastructure Land Use Middle East Iraq Military Bases

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