U.S. Expects Long-Term Troop Stay in Iraq
WASHINGTON - American officials say U.S. forces will be needed in Iraq (news - web sites) long after a sovereign government is restored this summer, but they have yet to work out the terms of a continued presence.
Senior Pentagon (news - web sites) officials said Thursday they were confident that the Iraqis, once given political control, would agree U.S. troops should stay. But some outside the government question whether that would hold true once an elected Iraqi government took over.
Anthony Cordesman, a close observer of the Iraq situation as a strategist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that if political control was turned over on July 1 to an Iraqi body that is not elected, it likely would align itself with U.S. objectives and therefore welcome a continued U.S. military presence. But once elections were held, the U.S. role would be in doubt, he said.
If the new Iraqi government decided it wanted American forces to leave, "We would certainly be obligated to leave, under international law," Cordesman said.
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U.S. Expects Long-Term Troop Stay in Iraq