This week there was finally a status-of-forces agreement that the Bush administration has been negotiating for months. This is going to allow US troops to remain in the country after the UN agreement expires at the end of this year.
The story in the Post states:
"The total withdrawal will be completed by December 31, 2011. This is not governed by circumstances on the ground," the spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, told Iraqi reporters, pointedly rejecting the more conditional language that the U.S. government had sought in the accord.
So now there is a time table to withdraw from Iraq with no conditions. No matter is going on in Iraq come December 31, 2001, US troops will be gone. In other words the Bush administration completely caved. No more BS about how a time table will let terrorists know how long they have to wait until they begin their attacks again. No well will get out only if some set of conditions are met. Nope none of that at all.
The Iraqi Parliament still has to approve the deal. So there is always the possibility that this might not happen. If that should happen, then there is precious little time to come up with something else since the UN mandate expires at the end of the year.
I thought this was an interesting point in the story:
American officials have pointed out that there is nothing stopping the next Iraqi government from asking some U.S. troops to stay. The Iraqi military is years away from being able to defend the country from external attack, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.
I can see almost no circumstances where any Iraqi government would want US troops to stay longer. More fantasy from the Bush administration on Iraq.
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