The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
August 13, 2010

Iraqi Commander: US Troops Needed Until 2020
--------------------------------------------



Iraq’s top military commander meanwhile continues to warn that his
troops won’t be ready for a planned US withdrawal next year. Speaking at
a military conference in Baghdad, Lieutenant General Babakir Zebari
repeated his contention that the Iraqi armed forces will need US backing
until 2020.

Lt. Gen. Babakir Zebari: "The US military will be here for advice and
backing, but in very special cases they will be ready to defend the
Iraqi army, because they control the Iraqi spaces as our air force is
not complete yet. The US has 50,000 actual combat troops, but the
problem will be after 2011. So, we have to work with the Americans, the
West or the regional countries, because the Iraqi army will be ready in
2020."



.