Friday, June 6, 2008
July 31st Looms for a Deal on Continued Presence in Iraq
Bush set a "deadline" of July 31st for a deal on our continued stay in Iraq. Just months before this failed administration leaves office, it seeks to tie the hands of President McCain/Obama. Really presumptuous when you think about it. Watch for Republicans to say that Democrats' objection are helping the terrorists. Be sure to compare that with how a deal to stay long-term will sit with the world and consider which is better for America.
- ...any lingering notion of Iraqi sovereignty disintegrated in the early months of 2007, when President Bush proceeded to send some 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq despite objections from the elected government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
- Iraqi political factions ranging from followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to the country's largest Sunni bloc, the National Accordance Front, want the Maliki government to press for a more muscular interpretation of Iraqi sovereignty in the negotiations over future security ties with the U.S. But Washington appears unwilling to relinquish a basic approach to the operations of the U.S. military in Iraq that leaves the country in a de-facto state of occupation. Washington wants Baghdad to allow the U.S. ongoing autonomy over military operations, including the right to arrest and detain Iraqi citizens suspected of involvement in terrorist activity, militia violence or insurgency efforts. But the Iraqis are reluctant to cede such broad powers to a foreign army.
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