Crocker: No permanent US bases planned for Iraq

Middle East News

Jun 5, 2008, 16:54 GMT

Washington - The United States has no plans to set up permanent military bases in Iraq, US Ambassador Ryan Crocker said Thursday as the two countries were working out a comprehensive deal on the future US role in the region. 'We are not seeking permanent military bases in Iraq. That is just flatly untrue,' Crocker told reporters in Washington, also denying reports that the US was looking to maintain control of Iraq's airspace. 'There isn't going to be an agreement that infringes on Iraq's sovereignty. The Iraqis are not going to accept it. And, frankly, we wouldn't want it,' he said. The United States and Iraq have been working for months on a bilateral arrangement that could set out the guidelines for a US presence in Iraq for many years to come. The talks have drawn fire from the Democratic-controlled Congress. Democrats insists any agreement must be approved by the US legislature and could bind the hands of the next president, who will take office in January. Crocker said he hoped a status-of-forces agreement, which would also map out elements of the countries' political and economic relationship, could be worked out by the end of July. The deal would replace the current United Nations mandate for US forces in Iraq. The top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, told Congress last month that more pullouts of the roughly 140,000 US troops could begin this fall, but the majority are expected to remain in the country at least until a new US president takes office next year.

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and you must be really STUPIDJun 6th, 2008 - 11:29:18

......if you believe that.

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Crocker: No permanent US bases planned for Iraq

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