U.S. Will Be in Iraq for Years, Powell Says

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said in an interview to be broadcast today that the United States would have a military presence in Iraq for years, although a gradual withdrawal probably would start in 2006.

In the interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., Powell said a massive, rapid pullout would be a “tragic mistake.”

He also said U.S. intelligence services had not revealed their doubts to the Bush administration about the reliability of information on Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction.

“What really upset me more than anything else was that there were people in the intelligence community that had doubts about some of this sourcing, but those doubts never surfaced up to us,” Powell said in the interview, according to a transcript.

Last week, President Bush said the responsibility for invading Iraq based partly on the faulty intelligence rested solely with him.

In the BBC interview, Powell said he did not believe the U.S. could sustain its current deployment “for an extended period.”

“So one way or the other, I think a drawdown will begin in 2006,” he said.

“But essentially just to walk away, to say that we’re taking all of our troops out as fast as we can, would be a tragic mistake. It’s going to be years.”