WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday the United States may have a military presence in Iraq for a "prolonged period" and drew a comparison with U.S. bases in Germany and South Korea. Gates, however, also said the United States had no desire for permanent bases in Iraq and any long-term military presence in the country would be far smaller than the current force level of some 140,000 U.S. troops. "I think that at a very much reduced level we will probably have some presence in Iraq, as we have had in Korea and Germany and a variety of other places around the world where we've been at war, for a prolonged period of time, a number of years," Gates told the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. Gates said even if President George W. Bush's plan to increase U.S. troops in Iraq helped quell violence there, Iraqi forces would still need U.S. military help with logistics, communications, intelligence gathering and training. The United States has had forces in Germany since World II and in South Korea since the 1950-1953 Korean War. "We clearly have no desire for permanent bases in Iraq," Gates said.
