White House envisions "Korean model" in Iraq

WASHINGTON — President Bush would like to see the U.S. military provide long-term stability in Iraq as it has in South Korea, where thousands of American troops have been based for more than half a century, the White House said Wednesday.

White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters Bush believes U.S. forces eventually will end their combat role in Iraq but will continue to be needed in the country to deter threats and to help handle potential crises, as they have done in South Korea.

The United States has kept forces in South Korea since war erupted with North Korea in 1950 and currently has about 30,000 troops there.

"At some point you want to get to a situation in which the Iraqis have the capability to go ahead and handle the fundamental matters of security ... so that if you need the ability to react quickly you can be there, but the Iraqis are conducting the lion's share of their business," Snow said.

Bush has spoken before of the "Korean model" as a way to make the point that "the situation in Iraq, and indeed, the larger war on terror, are things that are going to take a long time," Snow said.

Asked if U.S. forces would be permanently stationed in Iraq, Snow said, "No, not necessarily." He said that the prospect of permanent U.S. bases in Iraq were "not necessarily the case, either."

Later, Snow said it was impossible to say if U.S. troops would remain in Iraq for some 50 years. "I don't know," he said. "It is an unanswerable question. But I'm not making that suggestion. ... The war on terror is a long war."

The comparison was offered as the Pentagon announced the completion of the troop buildup ordered in January. The last of about 21,500 combat troops to arrive were an Army brigade in Baghdad and a Marine unit heading into Anbar province in western Iraq.

Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there are now 20 combat brigades in Iraq, up from 15 when the buildup began. Overall, the Pentagon said there are 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq; that number may climb as more support troops move in.

Michael O'Hanlon, a defense analyst at Brookings Institution, said Snow's comparison of Iraq to South Korea would hurt efforts to convince Iraqis and others that the United States does not plan an indefinite military stay.

"In trying to convey resolve, he conveys the presumption that we're going to be there for a long time," O'Hanlon said.

American forces are deployed in roughly 130 countries, performing a variety of duties from combat to peacekeeping to training foreign militaries, according to GlobalSecurity.org, a defense-oriented think tank.

Adm. William Fallon, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, seemed a surprising choice when he got the job earlier this year, yet his experience as U.S. commander in the Pacific overseeing the Korean peninsula would serve him well if the U.S. military adopts a Korea model in Iraq.