Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military plans to retain a presence in 10
bases in Iraq in 2012.

The Defense Department and Joint Chiefs of Staff have approved a plan in
which U.S. military trainers would operate out of 10 bases in Iraq after the
American troop pullout at the end of 2011. The plan called for hundreds of
security contractors to work with all three services of the Iraqi military.

“Through the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement, we also have a platform for future cooperation in counterterrorism, in naval and air defense, and in joint exercises,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said. “And we will work with the Iraqis to pursue those efforts.”

In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Nov. 15, senior officials did not disclose the number of U.S. trainers to remain in Iraq. At one point, Washington sought to deploy a force of 20,000, a proposal rejected by the Baghdad government. Currently, the U.S. military reported a
deployment of fewer than 20,000 troops in Iraq.

“This is about negotiating with a sovereign country, an independent country,” Panetta said. “This is not about us telling them what we’re going to do for them or what they’re going to have to do.”

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the
U.S. force would focus on providing counter-insurgency training to the Iraqi
military. Dempsey told the Senate committee that American trainers would
also help the Iraq Air Force absorb up to 36 F-16 Block 52+ multi-role
fighters over the next five years.

The U.S. training force would remain in their bases and not participate
in Iraqi military operations, Dempsey said. He cited the lack of Iraqi
immunity for the U.S. forces after 2011.

“So, this isn’t about us moving around the country very much at all,”
Dempsey said.

The general said the U.S. training program would be administered by the
Office of Security Cooperation, overseen by the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Dempsey said the office would help train the Iraqis in operations on the F-16s as well as the M1A1 main battle tanks.

The U.S. military has withdrawn from nearly 500 bases and maintains a
presence in 11 facilities. In December, U.S. troops were scheduled to leave
the Imam Ali air force base in southern Iraq.

“The truth is that this administration was committed to the complete
withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and they made it happen,” Sen. John
McCain, the ranking Republican on the committee, said.

  F-16, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Leon Panetta, M1A1 main battle tank, Sen. John McCain, U.S. military trainers to remain at 10 Iraqi bases, U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement