More than 16,000 US officials and contractors to remain in Iraq at taxpayer expense-NPR

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12/13/11, "Troop Pullout Not The End Of U.S. Presence In Iraq," NPR Talk of the Nation

"NPR commentator Ted Koppel recently visited Iraq on assignment for NBC's "Rock Center" with Brian Williams. His report aired last night. His conclusion: The United States is not leaving. The largest U.S. embassy in the world, two huge consulates and more than 16,000 officials and contractors will remain behind.

Ted Koppel ran it by U.S. Ambassador Jim Jeffrey.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ROCK CENTER WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS")

TED KOPPEL, BYLINE: I realize you can't go into it in any detail, but I would assume that there is a healthy CIA mission here. I would assume that JSOC may still be active in this country, the Joint Special Operations. You've got FBI here. You've got DEA here. Can you give me sort of a menu of who all falls under your control?

• JAMES JEFFREY: You're actually doing pretty well,
  

• were I authorized to talk about half of this stuff..."...

via Democracy Now