Source:
Washington PostGates, U.S. General Back Long Iraq Stay
U.S. Presence Said to Reassure Allies
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 1, 2007; Page A11
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and a senior U.S. commander said yesterday that they favor a protracted U.S. troop presence in Iraq along the lines of the military stabilization force in South Korea.
Gates told reporters in Hawaii that he is thinking of "a mutual agreement" with Iraq in which "some force of Americans . . . is present for a protracted period of time, but in ways that are protective of the sovereignty of the host government." Gates said such a long-term U.S. presence would assure allies in the Middle East that the United States will not withdraw from Iraq as it did from Vietnam, "lock, stock and barrel."
Odierno said he sees benefits in maintaining a South Korean-style force in Iraq for years. "I think it's a great idea," he said, adding that the Iraqi and U.S. governments would have to make that decision.
"That would be nothing but helping the Iraqi security forces and the government to continue to stabilize itself, and continue to set itself up for success for years to come, if we were able to do that," Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a videoconference from Baghdad.
Read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/31/AR2007053102430.html?nav=rss_world%2Fmideast%2Firaq#0.4579771722312044
Again with the Korea analogy.
And I'm sorry to see Gates join the Korea party, that means it's the opinion of Bush 41's realists that we'll have to stay in Iraq for 50 years. Bad news all around.