Iraq demands deadline for pullout of all US troops

Iraq demands deadline for pullout of all US troops

Monday, August 25, 2008 11:02 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD (AP) — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday no security agreement with the United States could be reached unless it included a "specific deadline" for the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq.

Last week, U.S. and Iraqi officials said the two sides had agreed tentatively to a schedule which included a broad pullout of combat forces by the end of 2011 with a residual U.S. force remaining behind to continue training and advising the Iraqi security forces.

But al-Maliki's remarks Monday suggested that the Iraqi government is still not satisfied with that arrangement. An aide to the prime minister said Monday that Iraq remained adamant that the last American soldier must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 — regardless of conditions at the time.

The official, like others who spoke about the specifics of the debate, spoke on condition of anonymity because the text had not been approved by either government.

President Bush has long resisted a timetable for pulling out troops from Iraq, even under heavy pressure from a nation distressed by American deaths and discouraged by the length of the war that began in 2003.

"There can be no treaty or agreement except on the basis of Iraq's full sovereignty," al-Maliki told a gathering of tribal sheiks. He said such an agreement must be based on the principle that "no foreign soldier remains in Iraq after a specific deadline, not an open time frame."

Full story here...

I think that if the Iraqi government wants us out of there by a certain date, we damn well ought to leave. It's a soveriegn nation, and we have no right to stay any longer than they want us there.

If big problems arise after we leave, then kindly remind them they wanted us out, and tell them to go fuck themselves.

Pale Rider wrote:I think that if the Iraqi government wants us out of there by a certain date, we damn well ought to leave. It's a soveriegn nation, and we have no right to stay any longer than they want us there.

I agree that we should all leave Iraq when they want us to leave. And just as a minor point, Iraq was a soveriegn nation when we invaded.