US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said any plan for the United States to have long-term military bases in postwar Iraq is "unlikely".
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Mr Rumsfeld: US has no long-term military plan
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But he acknowledged the United States planned to discuss possible future changes in its regional military presence with leaders in the Middle East and Gulf region, stressing Washington had many friends and options in the key area.
Mr Rumsfeld attacked a New York Timesreport quoting unnamed senior Bush administration officials as saying Washington was planning long-term military ties with Baghdad, including use of four bases held by US troops.
"I have never, that I can recall, heard the subject of a permanent base in Iraq discussed in any meeting," he said. "The likelihood of it seems to me to be so low that it does not surprise me that it's never been discussed in my presence to my knowledge.
"Any impression . . . which that article left, that the United States plans some sort of a permanent presence in that country, I think, is a signal to the people of that country that is inaccurate and unfortunate, because we don't plan to function as an occupier," Mr Rumsfeld said.
The New York Timessaid a new relationship with Iraq would grant the United States access to perhaps four bases: at the international airport outside Baghdad, at Tallil near Nassiriya in the south, at an airstrip called H-1 in western Iraq, and at the Bashur airfield in the Kurdish north.
"There are four bases that the US is using in that country to help bring in humanitarian assistance, to help provide for stability operations," Mr Rumsfeld said. "But does that have anything to do with a long-term footprint? Not a whit".
With the United States trying to help Iraq form a new government, analysts are considering how the US military will be arranged in the Gulf in years ahead.
Long-time US ally Saudi Arabia refused to allow the US military to launch offensive strikes against Iraq from its territory. Analysts have suggested that the Pentagon might shift US military presence in the kingdom to countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.