Spencer Ackerman reports:
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened the door for the first time Thursday to the prospect of a U.S. military presence in Iraq after the December 2011 deadline for troop withdrawal set by last year's bilateral accord - something President Obama appeared to rule out during a joint appearance on Tuesday.
Speaking to an audience at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, Maliki said the accord, known as the Status of Forces Agreement, would "end" the American military presence in his country in 2011, but "nevertheless, if Iraqi forces required further training and further support, we shall examine this at that time based on the needs of Iraq," he said through translation in response to a question from The Washington Independent. "I am sure that the will, the prospects and the desire for such cooperation is found among both parties."
Maliki continued, "The nature of that relationship - the functions and the amount of [U.S.] forces - will then be discussed and reexamined based on the needs" of Iraq.
U.S. troops are going to be in Iraq for a very, very long time. The goal is to have them operating from positions of safety and relative comfort, as they do in Germany and Korea and Japan and other countries that were once liberated by U.S. troops. Iraq has no real air force, and there is no hope that it will have one anytime soon. At the very least, U.S. forces will be necessary to protect Iraqi airspace for a decade or more. As Eli Lake, the editor of elaketricity.com, reported in February, the Iraqi military is also "purchasing American helicopters, cargo planes and tanks equipment that typically requires a prolonged U.S. presence for maintenance and training." For the foreseeable future, American troops will be stationed in the very heart of the Middle East, where they will serve as a sort of insurer of last resort, guarding democracy and fostering prosperity in a country that borders the worst rogue states in the region.
It's a wonderful irony that Barack Obama will deliver us the permanent bases that George W. Bush never could.
