Reed: Iraq against undefined U.S. presence

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.