Gates: U.S. won't promise to defend Iraq in accord

By Kristin Roberts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will not promise to defend Iraq nor seek permanent bases there under a planned agreement on future relations between the two states, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday.

"The status-of-forces agreement that is being discussed will not contain a commitment to defend Iraq and neither will any strategic framework agreement," Gates told a U.S. Senate panel.

"We do not want, nor will we seek, permanent bases in Iraq," he later told a U.S. House of Representatives committee.

The United States and Iraq have agreed to start formal negotiations about their future relationship with the goal of finishing an accord by the end of July.

The agreement will set the rules and legal protections under which U.S. forces operate in Iraq. The size of the long-term U.S. presence in Iraq also will be part of the negotiations, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the White House deputy national security adviser, has said.

But Democrats in Congress worry the Bush administration could use the agreement to lock in a long-term U.S. military presence before the next president is elected on November 4. They say the administration could use it to bind future presidents to Bush's current Iraq policy.

On Wednesday, some Democrats argued any agreement that includes a promise to defend Iraq would require Senate approval.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, told Gates Congress should have opportunity to approve the agreement because U.S. troops and U.S. security are involved.