Iraqis might not want U.S. forces to stay

BAGHDAD, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- It will be difficult to convince the Iraqi people that U.S. forces need to stay in the country beyond the Dec. 31 deadline, an Iraqi lawmaker said.

A senior U.S. military official speaking to The New York Times on condition of anonymity said U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is backing a plan to keep as many as 4,000 troops in Iraq after a Dec. 31 deadline for leaving.

Iraqi lawmakers gave Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki authority to negotiate with Washington over what amounted to an extended training mission. The military official said Panetta's proposal was "within the confines of what the Iraqis said they need."

Kudhair al-Hamdani, a lawmaker on the Iraqi foreign relations committee, told the Voices of Iraq news agency that it would be difficult to get an extension given the "public's rejection."

"The Iraqi people know that the U.S. forces violated the rights in the country and did not defend the sovereignty of Iraq," he was quoted as saying.

Kurdish leaders say Iraq doesn't have the military force needed to protect the country. U.S. critics, like Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, have pressed for the Americans to leave.

The U.S. military lauded a milestone for August, saying it was the first time since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that no U.S. troops were killed in Iraq. Roughly 100 Iraqis were killed in various bombings throughout the country, however.