Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — Iraq is still seeking to retain a U.S. military presence
in 2012.

President Jalal Talabani said that the Iraqi military wanted
U.S. aid after the American troop withdrawal at the end of 2011.

Talabani, in a statement believed to have been cleared by the government of Prime
Minister Nouri Al Maliki, asserted that U.S. training was required by every
service in the Iraqi military.

“They want the Americans to stay either as trainers or as forces to help Iraq against terrorism and against external interventions,” Talabani said.

In a statement on Nov. 26, Talabani became the highest level Iraqi official to call for a continued U.S. military presence. The U.S. military has submitted several proposals for a trainer presence in Iraq, the last one said to be limited to fewer than 1,000 private contractors and officers.

The president said Iraq does not need U.S. help for internal security. But he said the military has concluded that Baghdad still needed U.S. training and other assistance in absorbing the new combat platforms ordered by Iraq.

“I believe that the police and army forces are capable of maintaining
security as it is now,” Talabani told Iraqi state television. “But there is
a big problem in air and naval defense, and in using new
weapons….They [Iraqi military studies] say we are not capable now of
defending our skies and our waters, nor to use the weapons we will buy or
obtain from the Americans.”

Iraq has ordered 18 F-16 Block 52+ multi-role fighters from the United
States, the first of which was expected to arrive by 2015. The Iraq Army has
also been trying to deploy its more than 120 M1A1 main battle tanks.

Talabani stressed that the military has concluded that it could not
protect Iraq’s air space and territorial waters from enemy infiltration
without U.S. assistance. He said Al Maliki was aware of this assessment and
would be visiting the United States to arrange for private contractors to
supply weapons training.

“Or, we might agree for some European countries to train the Iraqis on
the U.S. weapons that we buy,” Talabani said.

The president’s statement came amid suspected Iranian-sponsored Shi’ite
rocket attacks on the remaining U.S. military presence, which has dropped to
below 20,000 troops. On Nov. 25, the U.S. military, in an unusual move,
reported a Katyusha rocket strike toward a U.S. base near Babil.

“Terrorists groups are conducting attacks against American forces in
order to create a false idea that they have forced us to leave,” the U.S.
military said.

  Babil, Baghdad, F-16 Block 52+ multi-role fighter, Iraq Army, Iraqi president: Military wants continued U.S. presence beyond 2011, Jalal Talabani, M1A1 main battle tank, Nouri Al Maliki, Shi’ite