White House envisions "Korean model" in Iraq

By Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press

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Members of the Kurdish security force do military moves during a ceremony in Irbil, where three provinces were handed over to Iraqi security control.

Pentagon putting more amputees back to work

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.

Developments in Iraq

Kurds: Iraq's three northern Kurdish provinces officially were handed over to Iraqi security control at a ceremony in Irbil. Iraqi authorities now have responsibility for seven of the country's 18 provinces. Meanwhile, Turkey reinforced its border with Iraq with large contingents of soldiers, tanks and armored personnel carriers as it urged the U.S. to crackdown on Kurkish rebel bases there and debated staging a cross-border offensive.

Hunt for Britons: Hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi troops raided Baghdad's Sadr City slum Wednesday, a day after five British citizens were kidnapped from a nearby government building. The slum is a bastion of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi militia. On Tuesday, dozens of men in Iraqi police uniforms seized the five Britons, including a computer expert and four security guards. Some Iraqi officials speculated the kidnapping could be retribution for the killing of a Mahdi Army commander in a British-backed operation Friday in the southern city of Basra.

Lieberman visits: Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., came to Iraq to walk through a Baghdad market. His nephew, serving in Taji, was flown down to greet him and he had lunch with soldiers from the northeast. Lieberman told reporters things were improving; but the soldiers lunching with him said they didn't see progress.

Iraqi deaths: Two Iraqis working for the U.S. Embassy were reported kidnapped Wednesday, and at least 48 Iraqis were killed or reported slain in other violence across Iraq. Among them were two journalists.

U.S. casualties: The U.S. military Wednesday reported the deaths of three soldiers, two killed in a roadside bombing and one who died of a noncombat cause. As of Wednesday, at least 3,470 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war, according to an Associated Press count.

Helicopter crash: The U.S. military said it believed a helicopter that crashed Monday north of Baghdad was brought down by small-arms fire. The Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, has claimed responsibility.

Seattle Times news services

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.

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