U.S. Defense Secretary Gates says U.S. troops could stay in Iraq beyond 2011

[News_Editor]

U.S. Defense Secretary Gates says U.S. troops could stay in Iraq beyond 2011

2010-11-09 23:03:15 GMT+7 (ICT)

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday said that U.S. troops in Iraq could extend their stay past the deadline and until next year if the Iraqi government requests.

"In terms of the future strategic relationship beyond the end of 2011, I would say that the initiative clearly needs to come from the Iraqis," Gates said at a press conference during his visit to Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Currently, the agreement would have U.S. troops leave Iraq by the end of 2011, but with increasing violence, the governments of the U.S. and Iraq have expressed openness to extend the military intervention.

"We'll stand by and we're ready to have that discussion if and when they want to raise it with us," Gates added.

There are approximately 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq at the moment, where eight months ago, parliamentary election took place. However, Iraq has been unable to form a government with the ongoing deadlock between Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish blocs.

"We have been pretty clear to the Iraqis that what we seek, and hope they will come together on, is an inclusive government that represents all of the major elements of Iraqi society and in a nonsectarian way," said Gates.

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