Geography
The base, located about 100 miles (160 km) west of Baghdad, is divided by a wadi that runs through the area. It has a perimeter of more than 15 miles (24 km), and is the second largest USAF base in Iraq. It has 23 hardened shelters, two 3,990-metre (13,100 ft) paved runways and a 3,090-metre (10,100 ft) dirt runway. The runways, taxiways, tarmacs, hangars, and maintenance areas are on the southern half of the base, while living quarters, motor pools, and administrative areas are in the natural valley formed by the dry river bed to the north. A number of abandoned Iraqi aircraft are scattered throughout the base, in various states of disrepair, as well as hardened bunkers originally meant to house them.
The oasis located on the base is mistakenly known as "Abraham's Well", and is purported to have been a stopping place during the journey of Abraham recounted in the Book of Genesis.
Read more about this topic: Al Asad Airbase
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)