#Politico: Iraqi officials privately signal they want US forces to stay

Iraq’s prime minister privately told American officials that he wants to negotiate keeping U.S. forces in the country despite his recent announcement that he would begin the process of removing them from the country.

Senior advisers to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told U.S. officials that his declaration was “an attempt to satisfy domestic political audiences” and that Sudani himself “remained committed” to negotiating the coalition’s future presence in Iraq, according to a Jan. 6 State Department cable obtained by POLITICO.There’s been public uproar in Iraq over a U.S. drone strike last week that killed a senior Iran-backed militia member in Baghdad, and Sudani’s office announced on Friday that his government is putting together a bilateral committee to end the presence of the U.S.-led international military coalition focused on preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State.