IRAQ

Asia Times: In for the long haul

The United States will have to maintain a substantial part of its current 150,000 forces in Iraq long after President George W Bush leaves office, concludes a study released by the London-based think tank, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

The conclusion itself has been regarded as very much part of conventional wisdom inside Washington. Only the timing of the release of that study is going to provide further ammunition to the opponents of the Iraq war, especially inside the Republican Party. There has been little international support for America's invasion of Iraq. Now Bush's core support for staying put in Iraq appears to be unfastening.