WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday that Iraq has agreed to negotiate an extension of noncombat U.S. forces there beyond 2011.
“My view is that they finally did say, ‘Yes,’ ” he said during his first small-group press interview since taking office July 1.
| But read on and you'll see that the Iraqis deny this, and even Panetta sez that the request isn't 'formal'. This is either high-stakes poker or just the spreading of bullshit; you be the judge. |
Six weeks ago, an exasperated Panetta urged Iraqi leaders to “Dammit, make a decision” about extending the U.S. troop presence beyond the scheduled Dec. 31 withdrawal. Now, although Iraqi leaders have yet to make a formal request, Panetta said the Pentagon is moving forward, because there is unanimous consent among key Iraqi leaders to address U.S. demands.
Those demands include that Iraqis begin negotiating internally what type of U.S. training force they would like, begin a process to select a defense minister, craft a new Status of Forces Agreement and increase operations against Iranian-backed militants.
After word of PanettaÂ’s comments spread, however, the Iraqi government quickly rebuffed PanettaÂ’s claim.
| Since it will be another civil war in Iraq if they don't get the Sadr party and forces in line on this one. |
“We have not yet agreed on the issue of keeping training forces," Ali Mussawi, media advisor to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, told the Agence France Press news service on Friday.
Pentagon press officials also sought to clarify PanettaÂ’s statement.
"Cheez, the Boss did it again!"
"Easy son, he's new here." |
“The Secretary was asked if there had been progress in our discussions with the Iraqi government since his visit six weeks ago,” Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement. “He made clear that the Iraqis have said yes to discussions about the strategic relationship beyond 2011, and what that relationship might look like.”
During negotiations with Iraq, the U.S. will continue the drawdown as planned, Panetta said. “We will fulfill the commitment that we are going to take all of the combat forces out of Iraq.” |