Iraq spokesman says U.S. troops might be needed for another decade

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last month sold the Iraqi people on a security pact with the U.S.

He called it a “withdrawal agreement” to end the presence of American forces in his country by the beginning of 2012.

However, his top government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, undercut that claim this week when he said in Washington that the U.S. might be needed in Iraq for another 10 years.

Al-Dabbagh’s statement reverberated with political leaders in Baghdad and renewed criticism of the deal.

“We expected something odd,” said Alaa Maki, a member of a Sunni Muslim political bloc that’s forced al-Maliki to put the security agreement before voters as a referendum next year. “That is the reason we pushed for the referendum.” More