Iraq may need US troops for decade - Iraqi official

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WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Iraq will need a U.S. troop presence to help build up its military forces past the newly agreed three-year deadline for the withdrawal of American soldiers, a senior Iraqi official said on Thursday.

Ali al-Dabbagh, spokesman for the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said some U.S. forces could be needed for 10 years but told reporters that the terms of any extended presence would be negotiated between the next Iraqi and U.S. governments.

Washington and Baghdad recently negotiated a status of forces agreement, or SOFA, that calls for U.S. forces to leave Iraq's cities by mid-2009 and withdraw from the country by the end of 2011. The pact takes effect on Jan. 1, when the current U.N. mandate governing U.S. forces in Iraq expires.

"We do understand that the Iraqi military is not going to get built out in the three years. We do need many more years. It might be 10 years," Dabbagh said at a Pentagon press briefing.

Iraqi officials had spoken about the potential need for a lengthy U.S. troop presence before the new SOFA agreement. But Dabbagh's comments appeared to be the first to address the potential need for a residual U.S. presence since the pact was announced.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N11401212.htm

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Unexpected consequences of our little venture at colonialism..er.."spreading democracy."

But, we still have all those flowers they flung at us "liberators"..somewhere..don't we?

Perhaps, the Afghans are going to buy them wholesale for when our next "victory" is achieved.

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3. dead flowers

. . . appropriate

[amdezurik]

2. we need a targeted "draft"

ONLY the families of congress-critters and othe pols and confiscate all their money to pay for it...