US Pledges Long-term Presence in Iraq

The Bush administration today formally committed America to a long-term military presence in Iraq by entering into a strategic partnership with the authorities in Baghdad.

President George Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, signed an agreement to begin negotiating on future military, economic and diplomatic cooperation during a video conference this morning, the White House said.

The declaration of principles, which is not binding, will set the agenda for a future American relationship with Iraq, Bush's coordinator on Iraq and Afghanistan, General Douglas Lute, told reporters at the White House today.

"The two negotiating teams, Iraq and the United States, now have a common sheet of music with which to begin the negotiations," Lute said.

He offered few details on the scale of the future US military commitment to Iraq in terms of troop levels or permanent US bases.

He noted that the agreement, because it was not a treaty, would not be subject to oversight by Congress.

"What we expect this to do is provide a bilateral mandate ... for the continued presence and mission of US troops," Lute said.

"What US troops are doing, how many troops are required to do that, are bases required, which partners will join them, all these things are on the table."

The Associated Press reported from Baghdad that the proposal would give America preferential treatment for investments in Iraq - a potential bonanza for oil companies - in return for long-term security guarantees, including defence against internal coups.

Today's agreement was announced as Maliki indicated he intended to seek the renewal of the UN security council mandate for Iraq for one more year when it expires in December.

The agreement has been in the works since last August, when the Maliki government officially requested the long-term strategic relationship with Washington.

The public unveiling of the proposed arrangement today arrives at a time when the administration has been trying to showcase recent improvements in security in Iraq following the deployment of an additional 30,000 US forces at the beginning of the year.

Some of those forces are scheduled to begin leaving Iraq by the end of this year following the drop in violence. The rest are due to be withdrawn by the summer of 2008, although there has been little sign of the political reconciliation which was the main objective of the surge strategy.

Instead, the administration today appeared to be urging Americans to look to the summer of 2008 when American and Iraqi negotiators hope to produce a broader agreement on their partnership.

The timetable for negotiations indicated by Lute would see the state department open negotiations early next year. That all but ensures that Iraq will dominate next year's presidential elections.