The United States is open to the idea of keeping troops in Iraq past a deadline to leave next year if Iraq asks for it, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.
"We'll stand by," Gates said. "We're ready to have that discussion if and when they want to raise it with us."
Gates urged Iraq's squabbling political groups to reconcile after eight months of deadlock. Any request to extend the U.S. military presence in Iraq would have to come from a functioning Iraqi government. It would amend the current agreement under which U.S. troops must leave by the end of 2011.
"That initiative clearly needs to come from the Iraqis; we are open to discussing it," Gates said.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have said for months that they expect Iraqi leaders to eventually ask for an extension of the military agreement with the U.S., but the political impasse has put the idea on hold.
A spike in violence in Iraq over the past two weeks has underscored the continued potency of al-Qaida and other Sunni extremists.
"We have been pretty clear to the Iraqis that what we seek, and hope they will come together on, is an inclusive government that represents all of the major elements of Iraqi society and in a nonsectarian way," Gates said. "It is our hope that that is the direction they are moving in."
He spoke following a meeting with Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Leaders of Iraq's major political blocs met Monday for the first time since parliamentary elections in March. The 90-minute televised session, the start of three days of talks, did not lead to a breakthrough.
The battle is largely a contest between the Iranian-favored coalition of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr against a Sunni-backed secular coalition led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
At stake is whether Iraq has an inclusive government of both the majority Shiites and the minority Sunnis, or a Shiite-dominated government with the Sunnis largely in opposition — a recipe that many worry will turn the country back to the sectarian violence of a few years ago.
Al-Maliki's bloc won 89 seats in the March 7 election, compared with 91 for Allawi's coalition; neither side won the majority of seats needed to govern.
Gates said he has not spoken directly to any of the political leaders, but other U.S. officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, have been heavily engaged.
Gates predicted that a new government would need some time before asking the U.S. to extend the troop plan.
Although the 2011 deadline was a point of pride for Iraq after years of U.S. military occupation, it does not leave much time for the U.S. to train Iraq's fledgling air force. Iraq also wants more U.S. help to protect its borders.
36 comments:
The people of Iraq clearly wants the US to stay. Why because its the only thing thats between peace and chaos that'll tear the country itself apart. I think the plan should be to focus more US troops in training the militia, and at the same time have US lead peacekeeping troops patrols.Until the militia is ready to handle its own problems. This will significantly cut the use of US troops.
This isnt fair they were supposed to be pulled out a long time ago and now they are staying longer thats stupid!!!
They should really get the troops out of there. Its almost futile to fight these extremists. They will just keep coming back. To defeat them we must literally exterminate all of them which is pretty much impossible because of the guerrilla tactics they use. US soldiers are dieing everyday in vain.
Iraq asking the U.S. to stay and the U.S. doing so because of a request makes sense to me. A large majority of complaints made by critics of the War in Iraq center around the unwanted American presence. Of course, there will always be some who wish America out but if a foreign government requests assistance, we should not deny them. The complication here is that the government may be connected to various terrorist groups and the local police controlled by the mafia. Gates is wise in replying with "wait until the time comes" for the future is still hard to foretell.
Really? Operation "New Dawn" is going to last longer than expected? Man, I thought we were winding this one down. I don't pretend to know anything objective about the war but I though our guys and girls were ALL coming home soon. I know the combat mission ended but that didn't mean the war was over. I don't know. At this point, I leave judgement in the hands of the people in charge. I trust them. I hope.
Ha what happened to Obama's promise to pull all the troops out? Are we seriously looking at sending more troops and extending the length of time that Iraq will be occupied? We need to patch things up back home before we start telling other countries how to handle their business. America is in a bad spot right now and we need to stay strong. Sending more Americans away to die is only going to cause more consternation, especially since Obama promised to pull all the troops out long ago.
This is really tough. Personally I'd like to see all of our brave people back home. On the other hand, there is no way that by this deadline we could train any type of military services. Also I don't see why that if they did find a functioning government (unlikely) within this time that they would want our continued stay. Once they have an inclusive government, one that can hopefully function without assistance, I cannot see why Iraq would think they need us. But that is just trying to see from thier point of view. I don't really like the idea of brainstorming for new/different ways of supplying a government than what we already have so Iraqi leaders are doing decent (not really) at at least trying.
As a superpower we have a responsibility to keep things in order and help those over seas when we can, but we also need to worry about whats going on within our own borders. Extending the deadline for the troops in Iraq isn't going to sit well will military families or those who believe in the war. I believe we can count on an increase in protests if the government chooses to stay in Iraq. Maybe we'll even break the record of 3 million people at a protest.
Unless we truly need to stay in Iraq and the Iraqis really want our help, I think it's about time for us to leave. It has been many years and the plan to leave has been set. While the welfare of all human beings is important to us, we should also make sure to attend to our countries needs first unless there are extreme circumstances.
Thank Jesus. I am so glad we're not planning on just exiting the country because we feel like it or lack of funding or we think we're going to lose. There is message that needs to be said about America in this war. Not just that we can win or we think that we can win, but that we will not pull out of our promises. Whether or not it was a smart idea for us to get in on this thing isn't the issue anymore though some still dispute it. To put it as shallow as possible , it's about our image. If we're still perceived as a threat and a hegemonic state. That is so important right now because it's such a fragile image. France and britian have both been the most hegemonic states at one time or another and now looke at them. Or look at Rome, oh wait you can't because they no longer exist and were beat out by Greece of all things. The united states needs to keep our hegemony as long as possible and if we quitthis war we put ourselves on a slippery slope. One that we!"'re actually already on because we owe souch money to china. Ii we were to pull out of this war without sufficient success our Waterloo would be coming much earlier that already expected.
I don't like having our troops over there still want them to b back home but it's still a pretty good idea to have a couple over there just to make sure nothing craZy is going on
I find that the last sentence is ironic, but other than this, i wonder what will happen now. They say that it is a conversation between the U.S and Iraq, so I wonder if the word will be yes. Either way, they are going to have controversy, if they say no, the american people will no doubt think that there was a conspiracy. However, if they say yes, more people will complain about more war related "crime."
To top it off, lets just see if the political dice roll a seven, or a pair of snake eyes.
I believe we need to bring the troops home. Ain't nothing happening anyway. If they want we should just bring them home and have the war here. We can have it in Nebraska , we don;t need that state. What do they give us corn?? My truck doesn't run on corn. Ethonal is a dream and a dumb one. haha but really its about time to bring them so they can enjoy the holiday with their family.
This is weird, and I feel really badly for the U.S. troops that got their hopes up in leaving soon. Because, as I understand it, have to wait for a fully functioning Iraqi government to raise the conversation as to whether the U.S. will extend it's military occupation of Iraq. I find it kind of a waste of time, it might, in the end, be completely unnecessary. We'll see I guess.
This does not surprise me, because it seems that it would be difficult for Iraq to keep a democratic government going in a place that unstable. I feel that as long as Iraq tries to keep a democratic government running, U.S. troops will be there to protect it.
Judging by past experiences with Iraq, and a general air of mistrust for Americans that has been apparent lately, perhaps a request by the Iraqi government for American troops to stay is a good starting point for better relations with the country.
I do not understand the point in keeping troupes their to risk their lives. Perhaps its because I'm against war in general, but to me it seems that he troupe have been there since what? September eleventh right? And what's been accomplished by that? Absolutely nothing. Keeping the troupes their just puts their life in danger and keeps their families worried, and waste a ton of tax payer money.
I hope that the Iraqi governments come to an agreement on how to govern themselves. Our troops have been there long enough and I think its about time they have come home to their families. I'm glad that we have been able to help them in the many ways that we have and we will always be there to help them, but they have to help themselves by learning to compromise just a little better.
See. The issue over military occupation in the middle east isn't about Republican VS. Democrat..It's about getting things done when they need to be done. I love how people just point their fingers to political leaders and parties when issues arise instead of working to deal with them. Thanks television.
I feel that the U.S troops should leave already. Not that much progress has been made, and how long have they been there? America should just leave the Iraqis to solve their own problems by now.
so its come down to this, either they ask for help or we leave them to their impending doom, im not quite sure they will ask for help and if they do it will be when we have the least amount of force available.
I'm sure this issue is much more complicated than I'm going to make it, but it seems simple to me: WE NEED TO GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST. This "war" is utterly ridiculous; 9 out of 10 people don't even know who we are fighting or why we are fighting them, they just know it's the "War of Terrorism" BUT WE ARN'T EVEN FIGHTING TERRORISTS. It seems obvious to me that if a country is having as many domestic issues as we are, than it doesn't really need to be involved in a war that none of it's citizens even understand anyway.
So no, I do not think the US should extend it's deadline to vacate Iraq.
Grant Curry
US Government AP
1st Period
After over a year of telling our troops and armed forces that they will be returning home from Iraq, the final decision is given to Iraqi soldiers who are probably scared to be without the support of The United States armed forces. Thats great for morale
Until Iraq can stand on its own two feet and defend itself from terrorists, U.S troops will remain there. This will put a wrench in the president's promise to bring the troops home but people will have to realize that we can't leave Iraq until the country is ready to be on its own.
While I can see the US troops role in Iraq as the needed mediator between the Sunni and Shiite leading groups as necessary, I feel like we're not doing much to assist. Their government has been deadlocked for months, and all we could do was beg for them to be active so we could help build them up better. The Sunni-Shiite fued has existed for centuries, and any progress the US has made so far in making amends is insignificant.
I have mixed feelings about this. By nature I'm a hopeful person, so I know there has to be a means of compromise between these groups, but I also know that they are very different and it may be a long time before they can finally get something figured out. Even then, government in Iraq would probably still be volatile for awhile. What I'm not sure about is if the amount of effort and money we are spending in Iraq is really appropriate for our time. Then again, if we give up our efforts now, Iraq may never be so close to having an organized government again. All in all, it's a sticky situation and we can only hope the right decisions are made.
In my opinion i feel that we should stay in iraq for a couple more years and wait and see how they react to a new government. But we should only stay there under conditions of peace. After maybe 2 or 3 years if iraq is stable enough to stand on their own and be peaceful internally and not pose a threat to the rest of the world.
I think that our troops need to come back home, no more need of an extension. This was all a mess caused by Bush as a resultant of his father's oil well's in iraq. Gates is correct, if they have to extend the stay, do it only if Iraq asks them to do it.
This kind of upsets me. One of the big things that people were counting on was the fact that most of the American troops would be removed by Iraq by the end of 2011. I don't think this will be met with much support from the Democratic party. I also don't know what makes the government think that Iraq even wants their help. Personally I would like to see the troops out by next year, though, hearing this, it makes me a little worried that that isn't going to happen.
I don't think that we should make our troops stay in Iraq for another year because they should be allowed to come home but if they are the key to keep everything that's happening in Iraq calm then i guess it's ok.
I want know why the Iraqi government is the one telling us when our troops can come home. Shouldn't we be deciding on that?
Gates should not have the troops in iraq there longer past there deadline. The troops in iraq are expecting to go home at a certain time and they should be able to without consequence of a person wanting to keep them past the deadline to return home. Many are expecting them to come home and should be able to.
I really don't think that they should be considering keeping troops there especially if they say that it has gotten to be more violent. I'm one of those people who belives that we should take care of the problems in the U.S before trying to fix problems of others.
So I really don't know too much about this war in Iraq, but I do know it's a difficult situation. Of course our troops deserve to come home to their families and live happy lives, but if we leave and all our progress is nullified, all the soldiers who have already died, died for nothing.
The war in Iraq is just one huge Gordian knot. It's so complicated that ending this war is nearly impossible to figure out, you can remove the troops right now but what if Iraq reverts back to how it was before we came, wasting lives and resource that we used trying to help them. Or you can leave the troops there and put more lives at risk. The problem is we just can't cut the knot with some metaphorical sword, I doubt I will see the end of this war before retirement, which I really hope they prove me wrong.
My opinion on this is that our soldier need to stay there. like they said they don't think they have enough time to train all the Iraqi soldiers in time. I think one of the main reasons we haven't seen any really major things happen with terrorists is because we are a threat when we are there. if we just up and leave it's showing that we think everything is alright and we've done our part. It's not even getting started in my opinion, our troops need to stay there and do what is right for them and for us as U.S. citizens.
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