U.S., Iraq starting work on long-term treaty

Looking for Iraqi compliance
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he expects the Iraqi government to agree to a longer-term U.S. troop presence, although the Americans would be focused less on combat than they are presently.

"I would anticipate that there would be some modest level of U.S. troops in Iraq at the invitation of a sovereign Iraqi government for some considerable period of time," Gates said in India last week. "But it would be a fraction of what we have there now, and they would be there to participate in training and equipping of the Iraqi forces, helping them protect their borders, going after al-Qaida and that sort of thing."

While the agreements would not tie the U.S. to specific troop levels, officials do not rule out including some broad goals for the U.S. military presence there, reflecting the gradual transfer of security responsibilities to Iraqi forces.

A key negotiating issue for Washington is expected to be a desire to maintain U.S. military authority to gather intelligence and conduct counterterrorism activities, as well as ongoing combat missions.

Separately, President Bush met with Gates and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon on Friday. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the topics included long-term budget planning. He said Bush will have more meetings with Gates and the service chiefs before Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, come to Washington in April for a status report on the war.

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