Iraqi MP: US aims to use embassy in Baghdad for intelligence operations

A member of the Iraqi parliament voiced deep concern over the surge in the number of the US embassy staff in Baghdad, and noted that Washington wants to use the embassy for intelligence goals. "The presence of more than 15,000 embassy staff in Iraq is really worrying since there is no such thing in any part of the world, no embassy has such a large number of staffers," member of the Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Commission Hossein Ali told FNA in Baghdad. Noting the possible cause of such a high number of US embassy staff, the lawmaker said, "There is a strong possibility that the White House officials intend to use such a large number of staff for intelligence and spying objectives both against Iraq and the neighboring states." He called on Iraq's intelligence bodies to deal seriously with the case since the issue can be a security threat to the country. There are currently over 8,000 personnel working at the US embassy in Iraq and Washington plans to double the number following the withdrawal of American troops from the country by the year's end. The number of personnel under the authority of the US ambassador to Iraq will swell from 8,000 to about 16,000 as the troop presence is drawn down, US State Department official said. "About 10 percent would be core programmatic staff, 10 percent management and aviation, 30 percent life support contractors - and 50 percent security," he said. Iraqi lawmakers say the US is planning to turn its embassy in Baghdad into an intelligence operation center. Political analysts believe that by increasing its staff to 16,000, Washington is indicating it does not want to end the occupation of Iraq. The US embassy in Baghdad is America's largest mission in the world. Nearly nine years after American troops stormed across Iraq's border in a blaze of shock, US officials quietly ended the bloody and bitterly divisive conflict in Iraq last week, but the debate over whether it was worth the cost in money and lives is yet unanswered in the US. Nearly 4,500 Americans and 100,000 Iraqis killed. Another 32,000 American and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been wounded and the war cost the US taxpayers billions of dollars.