Panetta: Iraq Likely to Request U.S. Troops Stay On

Panetta: Iraq Likely to Request U.S. Troops Stay On

Think U.S. troops will be leaving Iraq by the end of the year? Think again. CIA Director Leon Panetta, who has been nominated to succeed Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, says that the Iraqi government is probably going to request that some U.S. forces remain in the country and that Washington will almost certainly oblige.

The BBC reports that during his June 9 confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Panetta said,