BAGHDAD — On Nov. 17, 2008, U.S. and Iraqi officials signed a security agreement requiring all U.S. troops to leave the country by the end of 2011.
The same day, according to military records, construction crews at Camp Adder, a sprawling U.S. air base in southern Iraq, broke ground on a $61 million series of aircraft shelters. Over the next 14 months, the military started work on an additional $150 million in new base construction in Iraq, representing the culmination of a years-long building effort that continued even after the U.S. formally agreed to leave the country and began laying plans to depart.
In all, the military finished $496 million in base construction projects during 2009, the highest annual figure since the war began and nearly a quarter of the $2.1 billion spent on American bases in Iraq since 2004. An additional $323 million worth of projects are set to be completed this year, according to figures provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees base construction.
U.S. base projects continue in Iraq despite plans to leave - News - Stripes