Iraqi and American commanders tell The New York Times they worry a key military legacay of war -- that of Iraqi special forces -- might be at risk in Iraq since U.S. forces are on track to withdraw this year from the middle eastern nation. U.S. military organizers took pains to create a balanced Iraqi special operations force, a deliberately balance, the Times reports, of the nation's main sects and ethnicities.



Many of the U.S. forces who have worked to train and build up the Iraqi special forces organization are on their eighth and ninth tours in Iraq; and while the majority of U.S. troops there are planning their exit from Iraq by year's end, senior military Iraqi leaders told the Times they advised Iraq's prime minister to request that some special forces troops should stay; American officials said they would agree to such a request.



The Iraqi and U.S. commandos form a tight group, and some U.S. forces might stay, according to The New York Times.