Will The CIA Still Remain In Iraq After The U.S. Military Leaves At The End Of This Year?

CIA's Covert Iraq Mission -- Eli Lake, Daily Beast

Obama says U.S. troops are leaving Iraq, but the future of secret counterterrorism and intelligence programs inside the country is still being hashed out. Eli Lake reports on how big a footprint the CIA will leave behind.

As the U.S. military departs Iraq, the CIA is looking at how it can absorb and continue secret counterterrorism and intelligence programs run inside that country for years by the Joint Special Operations Command and other military organizations, officials tell The Daily Beast.

The programs involve everything from the deployment of remote sensors that scan the wireless spectrum of terrorist safe havens to stealth U.S.-Iraqi counterterrorism commando teams, and their status is uncertain as a U.S. diplomatic team negotiates with Iraqi leaders, according to officials, who made clear the CIA intends to keep a footprint inside the country even as troops leave by Dec. 31.

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My Comment: I read a lot of "ifs and buts" in this report .... but it appears that the Iraqi government has little if any interest for any US presence in the country .... and the White House has little if any interest to push the Iraqis to reconsider (at least publicly). Will the CIA remain in Iraq .... probably .... but it will definitely not have the presence and resources that it has had for the past few years. As for counter-terrorism operations continuing .... the thought that such a question is even being asked is troublesome .... and worrisome if Iraq does not step up to put a check on groups like Al Qaeda and its affiliates.