Iraq-U.S. Security Committee formed to define U.S. troops needed to stay in Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq has formed a joint security committee with the United States , chaired by the Commander-in-Chief of its Armed Forces, Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki and the Commander of the U.S. Forces in Iraq , General L. Austin, to define the number and ranks of American soldiers, needed to stay in Iraq after 2011, according to al-Hayat newspaper on Tuesday.   The newspaper quoted Maliki’s Advisor for north Iraq ’s Kurdistan Region’s Affairs, Adel Barwary, as saying: “the current visit of U.S. Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta for Iraq , is aimed to extend the presenc of his country’s troops and their size in Iraq .”   “The Iraqi side has not taken a final decision in this respect till now, because it is waiting for the report of the Commander-in-Chief, Nouri al-Maliki, and the Joint Committee, representing the political forces, that was formed in a recent meeting at the residence of Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani, in order to evaluate the situation of the Iraqi Forces,” Barwary said.   He said Iraq did not need ground forces, but air and an air-defense unit, because of its lack of their existence at the present time, adding that a “joint Iraqi-American Committee was formed under chairmanship of Maliliki and Austin, to define the number of soldiers it needs by the end of 2011, as well as areas of their presence, training and armament of the Iraqi security forces.”   According to the Strategic Agreement, signed between Baghdad and Washington in 2008, the American troops were supposed to leave Iraq by the end of the current year.   SKH (RT)