Israeli forces set up a post in the desert in Iraq at the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran , Iraqi and U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The existence of the secret Israeli military facility was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which described it as a base housing special forces and serving as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force. The reports of a secret base stirred up a furor in Iraq. Officials there have said that Iraqi army forces investigated reports of an unauthorized military force in the Nukhaib desert — a barren area to the southwest of the cities of Karbala and Najaf — in early March and came under fire while en route to the location. Iraqi officials have confirmed the presence of a small, short-term unauthorized force in the desert, but have not said that it was Israeli. However, two Iraqi security and intelligence officials and a senior U.S.…