U.S.: No decision on keeping troops in Iraq

BASRA, Iraq -- The Obama administration favors keeping a smaller military force in Iraq beyond this year than U.S. commanders believe is necessary, officials said Wednesday, although even a relatively tiny U.S. contingent may be too big for White House advisers who are worried about the slumping U.S. economy and the president's re-election chances.

U.S. officials in Iraq and in Washington said the matter is still under discussion and no decisions have been made.

Two U.S. officials said Wednesday the administration is proposing a residual military force of about 3,000 to continue training Iraqi security forces after Dec. 31, the deadline for all U.S. troops to leave under a security agreement negotiated in 2008. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations; one said the residual force could be as big as 5,000.

A force of only a few thousand U.S. troops would do little to allay Iraqi and U.S. fears about a recent spike in violence in Iraq. The U.S. has been considering a force of up to 10,000, much of it for training of Iraqi units. Iraq has not formally asked for any change to the current agreement under which all U.S. forces would leave at the end of this year, and frustrated U.S. officials say time is growing short to decide.

The two U.S. officials in Washington said a 3,000-strong force would enable the U.S. to conduct more extensive training of Iraqi security forces, beyond the standard new-equipment training that a U.S. Embassy Office of Security Cooperation program could provide alone.

But it would not be enough to continue the "advise and assist" role that U.S. troops are playing, in which they partner with Iraqi security units in the field.

U.S. ambassador to Iraq James F. Jeffrey dismissed as false news reports that the administration has settled on the 3,000-troop figure, reflecting an apparent disconnect between what U.S. officials in Washington and in Baghdad believe is the best way forward.

Jeffrey said the 3,000 figure has not been part of ongoing discussions in Baghdad, where both governments have been weighing whether as many as 10,000 U.S. forces should stay.

"That number has no official status or credibility," Jeffrey said in informal comments after a Wednesday ceremony in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra, where the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division replaced several thousand troops who are headed home.