Shiite officials like Askari have warned there is no way any Iraqi politician could back the current U.S. security agreement proposals.
"If I'm from the group that believes in the need for the Americans to stay, and then they face me with such a draft, then I'll say, look, I'd rather go with the others," Askari said.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, has defended the agreement. "The recent statements you've heard, the recent politicking you heard by different groups has really been very unhelpful," he said. "There has been no agreement yet.
"Secondly, most of the statements are coming from people who are unaware or not involved in the heart of this negotiating procedure. It has really been used for political brinksmanship," Zebari said.
Senior Iraqi politicians and Western officials confirmed the friction and debate within the alliance about an agreement.
"Of course there are some people who are against it, no doubt," said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, who is a leading negotiator on the Iraqi side. Salih vowed that the Kurds, Maliki and the country's presidency council would get approval for a bilateral agreement despite any opposition within the alliance.
Others warned that some Dawa members were seeking to sabotage a long-term deal.
"There is a lot of misrepresentation. It is deliberate. Some people don't want this on principle. Some people may have ideological problems with this. Now they are showing their true colors," said a senior Iraqi official who did not wish to be identified because it could endanger his position.
He warned that even Maliki's backing was not a given. The prime minister is faced with pressure within his party. In the past, officials have described Maliki as flip-flopping on government decisions.
The official described Dawa members as having become overconfident after successful military campaigns this spring in the southern port of Basra, Baghdad's Sadr City and Mosul that relied heavily on U.S. air support to defeat Sunni and Shiite armed groups.
"It has given this false image we are strong enough and we can stand on our own feet, that there is no need for any foreign presence," the official said.
A Western official who works closely with the Iraqi government said the wave of offensives had encouraged Maliki's advisors to dismiss U.S. demands as not worth the price.
