"When faced with the question, 'Do we need the Americans?' they are inclined to say, 'No, what do we need them for? We can do just fine,' " said the official, who was not authorized to speak to reporters.
Maliki's advisors are now asking aloud whether the American presence creates more trouble for Iraq with its Arab and Iranian neighbors or whether it safeguards the country's sovereignty, the Western official explained.
During Maliki's trip this week to Iran, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Iraq against such a deal with the Americans. Tehran's protests have been echoed in Lebanon by the armed Shiite political movement Hezbollah and by Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Within the two biggest parties in the alliance, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and Dawa, there are those who also have long viewed America with mistrust.
"Some never supported a sustained U.S. presence from the Coalition Provisional Authority onwards. Some were willing to accept a limited U.S. presence that brought them to power and then defeated Sunni forces, but oppose lasting ties with a non-Islamic and non- Arab state," said Iraq expert Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Senior members of the alliance say U.S. forces should be called into action only by the Iraqi government. They argue Iraqi forces should be in charge of cities next year and the American troops ought to wait on bases to serve in a backup role.
"If the Americans insist that they have their own mission in Iraq, then an agreement will be difficult to reach," Askari said.
If there is a failure to compromise, Iraq has two options: It can ask for a six-month or yearlong extension of the U.N. mandate, which will allow Iraq time to build up its army and buy weapons, Askari said. The other choice is to go it alone.
Officials like Askari think Iraq could gamble on parting with the Americans and survive.
"For sure we need them [the Americans], but not at any price," Askari said. "I feel we are more secure now. There isn't any chance that civil war will happen. . . . If we feel we have enough power, enough forces, to defend our country, there is no need for friendly troops."--
ned.parker@latimes.com
Times staff writers Caesar Ahmed, Saif Rasheed and Saif Hameed contributed to this report.
