When it comes to maintaining a military presence in foreign countries, the United States is increasingly resorting to their version of the Brezhnev Doctrine and becomes ever reluctant to leave, according to an article posted on June 8 on the website of America's bimonthly magazine National Interest.

The infamous doctrine was named after the former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the 1960s when he stated that "once a country became a member of the communist camp, it could never leave." It seems the US is also following suit, as its forces take up residence in a foreign country, its "political and military leaders never want to see that situation come to an end," says the article.

In fact, the bases and troops stationed in South Korea, Japan and Germany - after more than 60 years - serve as the best examples. Even when US forces seem to leave, it is when "they are driven out", as in the cases of Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia, or "odd factors intervene", as in the case of the Philippines, where the eruption of Mount Pinatubo combined with a vote of the Philippine Senate to terminate the US bases ended their presence, the article notes.

Now, it appears to be Iraq's turn.

Indeed, for the past two months, Pentagon officials, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, have been touting to the public the idea that the US needs to keep the troops beyond the end of 2011. Moreover, the US embassy in Iraq - "a complex that is nearly as large as Vatican City," "staffed by more than 1,000 diplomats and direct support personnel," and "much larger than the US embassies in such major powers as China, Japan, Germany, and the UK" - suggests the US ambassador "plans to play the role of imperial viceroy, not a mere diplomatic representative to a sovereign country," opines the article.

While Iraq is quite likely to become the latest test ground of "Washington's military Brezhnev Doctrine", it will by no means be the last - there is still Afghanistan. Although US leaders routinely deny the United States is an empire, Washington's conduct certainly conveys the impression that "it is an empire of bases and client states," and the behavior in Iraq does nothing to dispel that image, concludes the article.