U.S., Iraq scale down negotiations over forces
washingtonpost.com
13-Jul-2008 (one comment)

U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency, according to senior U.S. officials, effectively leaving talks over an extended U.S. military presence there to the next administration.

In place of the formal status-of-forces agreement negotiators had hoped to complete by July 31, the two governments are now working on a "bridge" document, more limited in both time and scope, that would allow basic U.S. military operations to continue beyond the expiration of a U.N. mandate at the end of the year.

The failure of months of negotiations over the more detailed accord -- blamed on both the Iraqi refusal to accept U.S. terms and the complexity of the task -- deals a blow to the Bush administration's plans to leave in place a formal military architecture in Iraq that could last for years.

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If you recall ....

by ./. (not verified) on Sun Jul 13, 2008 08:58 AM PDT

If you recall the US government used to say "Iraq is now a democracy. When Iraqi govenrment asks us to leave we will leave". Now, the bickering has started. Iraqi government wants a time-line for the US troops to leave, and US says, "no, we determine when we leave, we know better!"!!! And , US government wants the world to believe what it says and claims for any country, not just Iraq!
For the sake of Iran, mollahs would be smart not to believe whatever the US government has to say or promise.


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