All US forces will leave by 2011, Baghdad cabinet agrees

[Bozita]

Source: Guardian UK

All US forces will leave by 2011, Baghdad cabinet agrees
• Combat troops to quit most provinces next year
• U-turn by leading Shia cleric paves way for deal

Martin Chulov in Baghdad and Richard Norton-Taylor
guardian.co.uk, Monday November 17 2008 00.01 GMT
The Guardian, Monday November 17 2008
Article history



The US and Iraq will formally commit to a pact that withdraws all American forces from the country within three years, and pulls all combat troops out of most provinces by mid-2009, the Iraqi cabinet announced yesterday. The deal for the first time prescribes a timeline for an American departure from Iraq, which the US president-elect, Barack Obama, had foreshadowed as top of his foreign policy agenda when he takes office on January 20.

In a development that caught coalition officials by surprise, Iraq's cabinet yesterday ended one year of protracted negotiations by agreeing to a series of US amendments to draft documents. All but one cabinet minister present at the meeting committed to the agreement.

On Saturday the leading Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani dropped his opposition to the deal, in a shift that some observers believe paved the way for a Shia bloc in the cabinet to vote in its favour.

"The cabinet has just approved a deal between Iraq and the United States for the withdrawal of American troops," said a government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/17/iraq-withdrawal-cabinet-un-troops

[bluestateguy]

1. With this economy the way that it is, we won't have time to fuck around in Iraq

n t

[OhioChick]

It astonishes me that we're still there w/the economy in shambles. n/t

[onehandle]

2. Very funny.

We will be there for decades.

We gotta fortress in Bagdad and permanent bases all over.

No so funny.

[HereSince1628]

5. Call me skeptical, too. A Cheney military would either simply redefine combat troops

to mean troops currently engaged in comabat within Iraq or the US military will declare US bases to be US sovereign territory so that they are thereby no longer "in" Iraq.

I want to believe that this sort of shennanigan wouldn't exist in an Obama world, but 8 years of being lied to has left me skeptical.

[bluesmail]

3. With that big-ass embassy there? Who's kidding who?

We will be there forever or the equivalent.

[Muttocracy]

4. hmm, so the Iraqis agree amongst themselves.. but what about Bush? nt

[Posteritatis]

6. He ceases to matter in just over two months (nt)