Reed: Iraq against undefined U.S. presence

Published: July 26, 2008 at 2:02 PM
Order reprints
WASHINGTON, July 26 (UPI) -- Iraqi leaders oppose an "open-ended presence" of the U.S. military in their country and want the troops shipped out, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed says.

The Rhode Island Democrat said during Saturday's weekly Democratic radio address that he learned of the opposition to the ongoing U.S. occupation of Iraq by officials, including Iraqi Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki, during his recent trip to the Middle Eastern country.

"Prime Minister Maliki told us that while the Iraqi people deeply appreciate the sacrifices of American forces, they do not want an open-ended presence of U.S. combat forces," he said.

The senator, who was accompanied on the trip by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the likely Democratic presidential nominee, and Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., also criticized the growing cost of the military intervention in Iraq.

Reed said while the war has the support of President George Bush and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, it was costing taxpayers too much to sustain.

"At a time when the war in Iraq costs $10 billion each month, Americans are paying $4 a gallon for gasoline, and our economy is struggling, we cannot continue down the path that President Bush and Senator McCain propose, writing blank check after blank check," Reed said.


© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



Animal hoarder beyond Canadian law (4 min)
'Moneyball' rolls again with Sorkin, Pitt (8 min)
U.S. trade deficit dropped in May (16 min)
Beckinsale awarded $32K in libel damages (37 min)
Crude oil prices drop Friday morning (52 min)
UPI NewsTrack TopNews
Expensive F-22 having maintenance woes
fark
GM emerges from bankruptcy, sees shadow of debt, predicts six more weeks of Buick
Ugly ass baby giraffe born at Jacksonville Zoo. It's got legs that won't quit
Darwin scores first victory in 15 years at annual Running of the Dipshiats in Pamplona
...so here's some ugly-ass hairless baby macaque monkeys that look like George W. Bush
You should never have to apologize for being right. Even when you're the editor of the Farmers'...
Most unmarried U.S. couples who live together aren't trying to test their relationship -- they just...