Washington: The State Department intends to phase out embassy offices in Iraq as quickly as three years after the US military's departure in 2011, the US Ambassador to Turkey told Congress on Tuesday.
James F. Jeffrey, who is tipped as the next US ambassador to Turkey, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at his confirmation hearing, that a programme of police training, to be run by the State Department beginning next year, is also scheduled to be phased out in three to five years.
He said that would shrink the permanent US diplomatic presence to the embassy in Baghdad, to include an office overseeing US military sales to Iraq, plus one consulate in the south and one in the north.
US troop levels are scheduled to drop to 50,000 by the end of next month. By the same date, the State Department is scheduled to replace the military as the lead US government presence in the country.
US troop levels are scheduled to be completely removed by December 31, 2011. What’s more, as the withdrawal of military forces take place, an existing network of 16 military-civilian posts, known as provincial reconstruction teams, will be transformed into a combination of three embassy branch offices and two consulates, Jeffrey said. He added that the State Department, rather than the US military, will provide security for the five remaining offices.
Polls show most Iraqis want American troops to leave, but the United States will remain committed to working with Iraq as a partner in promoting regional peace and stability.
"This commitment first of all has been sealed in blood and treasure, both Iraqi and American," said the ambassador who was also optimistic about prospects for breaking the political deadlock over formation of a new Iraqi government.
Elections in March failed to produce a clear-cut winner and political wrangling has yet to settle the matter of whether Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki will remain in power.
Jeffrey declined to predict how long the impasse might last but suggested there is reason to hope a solution will be found soon. At any rate, the United States is deliberately taking no direct role, he said.
"Any direct involvement by outside actors is typically, something that the Iraqis basically don't like to see," he said. More welcome, he said, are "expressions of interest by their friends”.
If confirmed by the Senate, as expected, Jeffrey will succeed Christopher Hill as Chief US diplomat in Baghdad.
The Foreign Relations Committee also was considering the nomination of Francis J. Ricciardone Junior to succeed Jeffrey as US ambassador to Turkey.
