WASHINGTON — U.S. forces will remain in Iraq beyond the end of 2008, but a continued U.S. troop presence will not tie the hands of a future U.S. president, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote in a newspaper column this week. “It is clear … that U.S. forces will need to operate in Iraq beyond the end of this year for progress in stabilizing Iraq to continue,” the top U.S. diplomatic and military officials wrote in The Washington Post.

U.S. Marines march during a ceremony where the authorities handed over the town of Heet to Iraqi forces in Anbar province

“The current U.N. authorization expires at the end of this year, and Iraq has indicated that it will not seek an extension. It would rather have an arrangement that is more in line with what typically governs the relationships between two sovereign nations,” Gates and Rice added in their jointly written article. Still the two U.S. officials argued that in Washington’s view the current year is one of “critical transition” in Iraq. “To continue the success we have seen in recent months, the Iraqi people and government will continue to need our help. Iraqis have requested a normalized relationship with us, and such a relationship will be part of a foundation … upon which future U.S. administrations can build,” Gates and Rice wrote.