Sitting Ducks: American Bases, Iranian Missiles

Iran need only close the Strait of Hormuz and crater eight runways to strand 40,000 US troops. That’ll be Day One. Saddam doubted Americans could stomach a 10,000-casualty battle. Trump seems determined to test that hypothesis;

William Walter Kay BA JD ——Bio and Archives--February 21, 2026

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A dozen US bases, housing 40,000 personnel, hunker perilously close to Iran.

These include two air bases in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region. Built by Saddam Hussein, Harir Air Base was seized by US forces in 2003. A small contingent remains at Harir while more attention lavishes on Erbil International Airport, 70 kilometers southwest of Harir, 115 kilometers from Iran.

The US spent $550 million upgrading Erbil’s huge runway and on building adjacent facilities. They are presently laying down helipads. This work complements the US Consulate in Erbil (America’s largest) completed in December 2025 (price tag: $800 million). The 101st Airborne recently relocated to Erbil.

Around 14,000 US personnel call Kuwait home. Camp Arifjan--south of Kuwait City--serves as a logistics hub for all branches of the US military. The 1996 terror bombing of an American barracks in Khobar, Saudi Arabia inspired Arifjan. Construction of this terror-proof camp began in 1999. Arifjan boasts a large heliport and all the amenities of an American town, notably franchise restaurants. Arifjan is 105 kilometers from Iran.

Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem Air Base sits 175 kilometers from Iran and, equally worrying, 37 kilometers from Iraq. Built for the Kuwaiti Air Force before the Gulf War (1990-91) the base became, by 1998, a US/UK staging area. Both Kuwaiti and US air forces use Al Salem’s two runways. As well, although Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base houses almost the entire Kuwaiti Air........

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