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Deal Sets U.S. Iraq Exit For 2011
edition.cnn.com — U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have reached a proposed agreement calling for a complete U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011, the head Iraqi negotiator said on Friday.
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- yellowcakewalk, on 08/22/2008, -0/+4"It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months." - Donald Rumsfeld, February 2003
- canewediggit, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3but rummy isn't a threat anymore, let's see what johnny was saying in '03;
Hardball, 3/12/03:
MATTHEWS: Are you one of those who holds up an optimistic view of the post-war scene? Do you believe that the people of Iraq or at least a large number of them will treat us as liberators?
MCCAIN: Absolutely. Absolutely.
MATTHEWS: And you think the Arab world will come to a grudging recognition that what we did was necessary? I mean by that the modern Arab leaders, the people that we have to deal with.
MCCAIN: Not only that, they’ll be relieved that he’s not in the neighborhood because he has invaded his neighbors on several occasions.
- canewediggit, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3but rummy isn't a threat anymore, let's see what johnny was saying in '03;
- kemp34, on 08/22/2008, -1/+4I saw today on the front page of the NY Times that the Iraqi government is cracking down on leaders of the Sunni "Great Awakening" that was touted by McCain and his sort of fellows. The Great Awakening was basically hiring of Sunni mercenaries to go and hunt down insurgents in return for weapons and money. Now the more gruesome mercenaries are being arrested by the sovereign Iraqi authority.
I also have to add my Iraq "War" summary:
As we move forward, it is important to review what we just went through. Here is an Iraq “War” summary sheet (not really a war because no declaration was made, more of a military activity):
- Hundreds of thousands of dead people (very bad).
- Thousands of dead brave American troops (very bad).
- Tens of thousands of wounded American troops (very bad).
- Tens of thousands of cases of PTSD (very bad).
- Upwards of trillions of dollars in taxpayer wealth seized for funding (very bad).
- Saddam Hussein deposed (good).
- Iraqi land mass polluted with depleted uranium (very bad).
- Oil prices rocket to $100+ per barrel (bad).
- Halliburton, Blackwater and other military contractors make $billions off you and me (very bad).
- American military stretched thin and worn out (bad).
- American peoples’ will ignored (very bad).
- Constitution ignored (very bad).
- “War Time Powers” allowed to expand for the executive branch (very bad).
- Sanctioning of torture as an American practice (very bad).
- Broadening of domestic spying capabilities (very bad).
- Allies alienated (bad).
- No WMD found (bad).
- Military focused on insurgent training (bad).
- Focus of American people moved away from actually solving problems, and instead focused on cleaning up this mess (bad).
- War further ingrained in the American psyche as the normal state of affairs (very bad).
When you sum it all up, objectively, this war produced very little good and quite a bit of utter crap. - BohicaTwentyTwo, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3The CNN article has changed its title to say: Deal would have U.S. troops out of Iraq by 2012.
It appears that the timeline is going to be rather flexible, with all of the troops slated to be out by December 31st 2011, but with the Iraqi government allowed to ask US troops to stay longer if needed. The article doesn't make the usual distinction between US "combat troops" and the logistical and training support troops the Iraqis will still need for quite some time, so when they say all the troops, they probably mean ALL the troops.
I think a flexible three year timeline for withdrawal is an acceptable plan that will allow Iraq to keep its stability while assuming control. - ozymandias2012, on 08/22/2008, -0/+3Still too long.
- IrishJoe, on 08/22/2008, -0/+1But wait a minute. Up until a couple of months ago McCain was saying that Obama's plan to set a timeline for US troops to leave Iraq was evidence of his naivete and inexperience with foreign relations and evidence that Obama was surrendering in Iraq, then when the Iraqi Prime Minister agreed with Obama, McCain warmed up to the idea. Bush and his administration many times said setting a timeline for US troops to leave Iraq would be playing right into the hands of the "trrrsts" and only defeatist Democrats and Nazi-like appeasers would do that or have talks with Iran or Syria. Until the Bush administration held talks with Iran and Israel held talks with Syria. It seems that for all his naivete and inexperience, the Bush administration and Israel are following Obama's advice and McCain is having to agree with that inexperienced naive Senator from Illinois more and more often.
- SamMcPhy, on 08/22/2008, -0/+1What President Bush or the next President of the US (who ever it is) wants as a timetable for US troop withdrawal from Iraq could be irrelevant.
From U.S. News & World Report, July 7/14 2008, Commentary by Fouad Ajami: "As it now stands, the American occupation now rests on a United Nations mandate under Chapter 7 of its charter that sanctions Iraq as a threat to peace and abridges its sovereignty. That mandate expires by the end of the year, and the Bush administration is keen to give the American presence the status of a bilateral security agreement. In the American scheme, this would be done by the end of July, but the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has its own rhythm and challenges."
Without a US and Iraq bilateral agreement or a new UN Mandate the Iraqis could tell us to leave when the mandate expires at the end of this year and as a law abiding nation we would be obliged to do just that. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and/or the Iraqi Parliament could just wait us out - literally. - swordedge, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1only three years longer than it should be right now. They should leave in six months tops.
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