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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices
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To: i-node who wrote (429466)10/23/2008 10:48:14 AM
From: Road Walker  Read Replies (2) of 1572580
 
Details of Iraq pact reveal US debacle
By Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON - The final draft of the United States-Iraq Status of Forces agreement on the US military presence represents an even more crushing defeat for the policy of the George W Bush administration than previously thought, the final text reveals.

The final draft, dated October 13, not only imposes unambiguous deadlines for withdrawal of US combat troops by 2011, but makes it extremely unlikely that a US non-combat presence will be allowed to remain in Iraq for training and support purposes beyond the 2011 deadline for withdrawal of all US combat forces.

Furthermore, Shi'ite opposition to the pact as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty makes the prospects for passage of even this agreement by the Iraqi parliament doubtful. Pro-government Shi'ite parties, the top Shi'ite clerical body in the country and a powerful movement led by nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr that recently mobilized hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in protest against the pact, are all calling for its defeat.

At an Iraqi cabinet meeting on Tuesday, ministers raised objections to the final draft, and a government spokesman said the draft would not be submitted to parliament in its current form. But US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told three news agencies on Tuesday that the door was "pretty far closed" on further negotiations.

In the absence of an agreement approved by the Iraqi parliament, US troops in Iraq will probably be confined to their bases once the United Nations mandate expires on December 31.

continued - atimes.com
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