Officials: 10,000 US troops on offer for Iraq

Associated Press

BAGHDAD

The White House is offering to keep up to 10,000 troops in Iraq next year, U.S. officials say, despite opposition from many Iraqis and key Democratic Party allies who demand that President Barack Obama bring home the American military as promised.

Any extension of the military’s presence depends on a formal request from Baghdad — which must weigh questions about the readiness of Iraqi security forces against fears of renewed militant attacks and unrest if U.S. soldiers stay after the December pullout deadline.

Iraq isn’t expected to decide until September at the earliest when the 46,000 U.S. forces in the country had hoped to start heading home.

Already, the White House has worked out options to keep between 8,500 and 10,000 active-duty troops to continue training Iraqi security forces in 2012, according to senior Obama administration and U.S. military officials in interviews with The Associated Press.