Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States, frustrated by security restrictions,
intends to significantly reduce its presence in Iraq.

Officials said the State Department has decided to drop plans to expand
the U.S. embassy in Baghdad to become the largest in the world. They said
the department has acknowledged that embassy staffers would be vulnerable
amid rising tension and security restrictions by the Baghdad government.

“Over the last year and continuing this year the Department of State and the Embassy in Baghdad have been considering ways to appropriately reduce the size of the U.S. mission in Iraq, primarily by decreasing the number of contractors needed to support the embassy’s operations,” U.S. embassy spokesman Michael McClellan said.

Officials said State ordered the reduction of the embassy staff in Iraq, meant to reach 16,500. They said the department has agreed that many of the remaining positions could be filled by Iraqis rather than American staffers.

The decision, first reported by the New York Times, was released less than two months after the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Iraq in
December.

Officials acknowledged that the government of Prime Minister
Nouri Al Maliki frustrated U.S. plans for a large American diplomatic and
defense presence in Iraq by denying visas, imprisoning private contractors
and banning unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and VIP protection
around Baghdad and other major cities.

Officials said Baghdad has delayed talks on defining the U.S.
relationship with Iraq. They said this has hampered U.S. military training
programs as well as the employment of more than 5,000 security contractors
to protect the $750 million embassy.

The reduced U.S. presence was also expected to affect State Department
training programs in Iraq. The most vulnerable target was said to be a $1
billion program by Washington to train the Iraqi police, already slashed by
50 percent amid security and financial obstacles.

“When you’re being shot at and spat at constantly, there’s no point in
really putting yourself out for the host country,” an official said.

  contractors arrested, financial obstacles, Michael McClellan, Nouri Al Maliki, State Department, State Dept. drops plan to make Iraq embassy its largest after Baghdad limits cooperation, U.S. Embassy