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[MESA] Fwd: [OS] US/IRAQ/MIL-Defense Secretary Presses to Extend U.S. Tenure in Iraq

Released on 2012-10-18 17:00 GMT

Email-ID 3000031
Date 2011-05-25 01:09:04
nothing much new here

Defense Secretary Presses to Extend U.S. Tenure in Iraq


Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Iraq to host U.S. troops beyond the
end of the year to maintain stability and keep Iran at bay, echoing the
growing concerns of U.S. military officials that the government in Baghdad
isn't moving fast enough to request an extension of the U.S. troop

Mr. Gates predicted the U.S. would accede to such a request to send a
message to American allies and Iran that the U.S. isn't withdrawing from
the region, he said in remarks to a think tank in Washington on Tuesday.

"It would be reassuring to the Gulf States. It would not be reassuring to
Iran, and that is a good thing," Mr. Gates said.

Some military officials say that without a continued U.S. presence, Iraq
is likely to fall into the orbit of Iran. In a paper released Tuesday,
Frederick Kagan, an influential defense analyst, argued that without a
continued U.S. presence, Iraq would also be vulnerable to continued
insurgent-style attacks from Iran-backed proxies or even a full-scale
invasion by Iran.

U.S. military bases and personnel in Iraq have come under increasing
attacks from mortar fire and bombings, in what the military says is an
effort to drive the Americans from the country. Two U.S. soldiers were
killed Sunday by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

Mr. Gates said a continued American presence in Iraq would help sustain
the "investment in treasure and lives" the U.S. has made in Iraq and help
show other countries in the Middle East that a "multisectarian,
multi-ethnic" democracy in the Arab world will work.

Under the current agreement between Baghdad and Washington, the U.S. must
withdraw nearly all of its troops by the end of this year. The U.S.
military would like to keep about 10,000 troops in Iraq, a number the
Obama administration is likely to approve, U.S. officials have said.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday that it would rotate two brigades and a
division headquarters into Iraq this summer, a move that would position
the U.S. to maintain a substantial force in the country should Baghdad
request an extension.

Mr. Kagan, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who regularly
advises military commanders, argued in his paper, which was released
Tuesday, that Iraq won't be able to defend itself against Iran and its
agents without a U.S. troop presence.

"The Iraqi Security Forces will not be able to defend Iraq's sovereignty,
independence from Iran, and internal stability without American
assistance, including some ground forces, for a number of years," Mr.
Kagan wrote.

Many Iraqi lawmakers say they believe there is a parliamentary majority in
Iraq supporting a continued U.S. troop presence. But the influential
pro-Iranian cleric, Moqtada al Sadr, is pushing lawmakers to block a

Some Iraqi officials have said privately that Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki supports keeping U.S. troops, but he won his current term with
the backing of Mr. Sadr's supporters.

A Sadr bloc spokesman said the group continues to view the American
presence as an occupation and would hold a peaceful protest on Thursday.

Iraq has a long history of brinksmanship in its dealings with the U.S.,
but with the Americans due to begin shuttering bases, a last-minute deal
could come too late for the Pentagon.

"Time is your enemy," said a senior military official.

Officials have said the U.S. military is four months away from a
logistical point-of-no-return, when it would need to begin the final
dismantling of remaining military installations and sending equipment out
of the country to withdraw on time.

There were at least 162 attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq last month, up
from 128 in March and 93 in February, according to a foreign security
company in Iraq that tracks the data. The surge in attacks last month
coincided with a rash of American military, political and diplomatic
visits to the country.

"Various extremist groups and illegal militias have said they will
increase attacks against U.S. forces and they are trying to do that to
claim credit for driving out our forces," said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey
Buchanan, a spokesman for the U.S. forces in Iraq.

Reginald Thompson

Cell: (011) 504 8990-7741