Bush lays groundwork for permanent US military presence in Iraq

[sabra]

White House photo by Eric Draper
President George W. Bush is joined by Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, center, via video teleconference today in signing the U.S.-Iraq Declaration of Principles for Friendship and Cooperation.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26415994.htm

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It was too soon to say what the size and shape of the long-term U.S. presence in Iraq would be, but that was a "key matter for negotiation," Lute said. There are currently 164,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

"The basic message here should be clear, Iraq is increasingly able to stand on its own, that's very good news, but it won't have to stand alone," he said.

Iraq has experienced a decline in violence in the past few months, allowing for the planning of a gradual drawdown of U.S. troops that will see 20,000 leave Iraq by July 2008.

Lute said it was important for Iraq's neighbors to know the United States considers Iraq a key factor in regional stability.

"Just as we have long-standing relationships with other states in the region, we're looking to shape our future relationship with Iraq in the course of these negotiations in 2008," Lute said.

[Kolesar]

1. Spain, Italy, and Japan have all experienced "limited soveriegnty"

In the form of military bases on their soil. According to Seymour Hersh, there was a radio-receiving base in Japan that Japanese officials were not even allowed to enter. This was from his book about flight 007 from back in the Cold War: "The Target is Destroyed".