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BAGHDAD — A female homicide bomber blew herself up near an entrance to the U.S.-protected Green Zone and a bomb tore through a minibus carrying Iraqi government employees in separate attacks on Monday that killed at least 20 people, Iraqi officials said. A third attack on an Iraqi police patrol in Baghdad killed two civilians, police said. The violence came as Iraqi lawmakers prepared for a vote Wednesday on a security pact with the United States that would enable American forces to stay in Iraq for up to three more years under strict Iraqi oversight. In the first attack, a...

BAGHDAD: Through the televised parliamentary brawling, shouting and points of order, the battle lines are becoming clear in the Iraqi political debate over a security agreement that would govern the last three years of the American military presence in Iraq. But the pact that is nominally at the center of the wrangling appears not to be the main problem. The quarreling is really about what the country will look like when the American troops eventually depart, and whether the security agreement will give too much control to the Shiite-led Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.When cornered on the stairways and...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2008 – The status of forces agreement that U.S. and Iraqi leaders initialed earlier this week respects Iraqi sovereignty while allowing U.S. servicemembers to continue operations, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said here today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are briefing Congress today on the provisions of the agreement, Morrell told Pentagon reporters. The agreement does not have to be ratified by the U.S. Congress, but Gates has briefed representatives and senators throughout the process. In Iraq, the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2008 – All American troops will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011 under the status of forces agreement between the United States and Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen called the agreement important and one the United States needs to continue to operate in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31. U.S. officials in Baghdad said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker signed off on the pact yesterday, and Maliki presented it to the Iraqi Council of Representatives. U.S....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2008 – After weeks of struggle to reach an agreement, an important next step has been made for U.S. troops to continue operations in Iraq in 2009, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today. The Iraqi cabinet has signed the draft U.S.-Iraq status of forces agreement, allowing American troops to continue operating there and training Iraqi security forces after the United Nations Security Council mandate expires on Dec. 31. The cabinet signing is an important step, but the draft agreement still must be approved by the Iraqi parliament, then ratified by Iraq’s three-member presidential council, Whitman told reporters...

A new pact that faces final approval from parliament will keep US troops in Iraq for up to three more years. By June 2009 US forces will pull back to major bases. BAGHDAD - Iraq's cabinet overwhelmingly approved a security pact on Sunday that will enable a continued American military presence in Iraq for up to three more years, overcoming protests from hard-line Shiite nationalists and pressure from Iran to block the deal. It is expected to go before the parliament for final approval by the end of this month. Key revisions on sovereignty issues, demanded by Iraq and accepted...

The Iraqi cabinet, in a near-unanimous vote, have approved the security agreement with the US that will keep our forces in that country until the end of 2011. The decision of the 37-member cabinet, essentially a microcosm of the Parliament, is expected to be a good indicator of whether the agreement will pass. The assembly has not yet announced the date of its vote, but it is scheduled to go into recess on Nov. 24.The draft approved Sunday requires coalition forces to withdraw from Iraqi cities and towns by the summer of 2009 and from the country by the end...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2008 – The United States is holding out hope that issues delaying a status of forces agreement with Iraq will be resolved before the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing U.S. forces there expires Dec. 31, a senior Pentagon official said today. Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said at a news conference that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is translating written issues submitted by the Iraqi government, and expects a “very deliberate” review to follow. The United States will listen to the Iraqi government’s concerns and work to iron them out, but has little interest in “a...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2008 – Top leaders on both sides in Iraq are working to reach an agreement that would shape the future of U.S. operations there and ensure that hard-fought security, economic and political gains are not lost, a senior military official there said today. Video “Nobody wants to turn the clock back,” said Army Brig. Gen. David G. Perkins, director for strategic effects for Multinational Force Iraq. “Nobody wants to lose the security that has been hard-fought and gained. Nobody wants to lose economic progress. Nobody wants to lose the political progress.” Speaking to reporters in Baghdad...

SHANNON, Ireland, Oct. 22, 2008 – There is “not a lot of give” in putting in place the draft status of forces agreement between Iraq and the United States, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. During an interview with reporters traveling with him, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen reiterated his belief that Iraqi forces are not ready to assume sole responsibility for security in the nation. Though Iraqi officials are discussing the agreement and the politics involved will play out, time is running out, Mullen said. The United Nations mandate allowing foreign troops to operate in Iraq...

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Oct. 21, 2008 – Iraq is running out of time to approve a status of forces agreement that will let U.S. forces remain in the country past Dec. 31, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. Though the Iraqi security forces have made significant progress, “they will not be ready to provide for their own security by 31 December,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said. The status of forces agreement between the United States and Iraq is critical to continued progress in Iraq, Mullen said, and the U.S. military simply cannot operate in...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2008 – Servicemembers should not be concerned about the status of forces agreement between the United States and Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today. The secretary told Pentagon reporters that the agreement – now circulating as a draft in Washington and Baghdad – has adequate protections for American servicemembers. Gates said former Multinational Force Iraq commander Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, current commander Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker have been deeply involved in the negotiations. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...

Earlier this week, the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seized upon a column in the New York Post that described Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as having urged Iraqi leaders in a private meeting to delay coming to an agreement with the Bush administration on the status of U.S. troops. "Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a drawdown of the American military presence," Post columnist Amir Taheri wrote, quoting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who told the Post that Obama, during his meeting with Iraqi leaders in July, "asked why we were...

From “Move America Forward” PAC, this TV commercial hits Obama hard on playing politics with the lives of American troops. I agree with Hot Air that Obama’s interference with the Executive Branch on war-time negotiations is the most egregious offense (the Logan Act felony). But I believe that this ad hits exactly the right note for most Americans. I predict that it will be very effective. The ad is due to air this week. (click to see ad)

Why isn't Obama denying Amir Taheri's charges? He admited to it in June to MSNBC! [NOTE: The New York Post's Amir Taheri, in "OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS' IRAQ WITHDRAWAL", "discussed how Barack Obama, during his July trip, had asked Iraqi leaders not to finalize an agreement vital to the future of US forces in Iraq - and how the effect of such a delay would be to postpone the departure of the US from Iraq beyond the time Obama himself calls for."] We've discovered an MSNBC article which directly contradicts Obama's defense of his negotiations with the Iraq government....

IN Monday's Post, I discussed how Barack Obama, during his July trip, had asked Iraqi leaders not to finalize an agreement vital to the future of US forces in Iraq - and how the effect of such a delay would be to postpone the departure of the US from Iraq beyond the time Obama himself calls for. The Obama campaign has objected. While its statement says my article was "filled with distortions," the rebuttal actually centers on a technical point: the differences between two Iraqi-US accords under negotiation - the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA, to set rules governing US...

BAGHDAD, Sept. 16 (VOI) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Tuesday that the Iraqi government follows up the talks on the security agreement and ill be presented to the political council for national security and the parliament, al-Maliki’s office said in a statement. “We follow up talks on the Iraqi-U.S. security agreement and will be presented to the political council for national security and the parliament to know about all its details to take the right decision,” said the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI). This came during his meeting with the U.S....

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed confidence Tuesday that Washington and Baghdad will reach an agreement before the year’s end on the future role of U.S. forces in Iraq. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen also discussed his outlook on past and present U.S. humanitarian relief missions in a Pentagon Channel podcast interview. will reach an agreement before the year’s end on the future role of Mullen praised the bilateral dialogue between the U.S. and Iraq, where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a one-day visit last month to discuss the status of forces agreement with Iraqi...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A draft security deal between Washington and Baghdad on the future of US forces in Iraq is to be submitted to parliament within 10 days, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was quoted as saying on Tuesday. "The SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) will be sent to parliament within 10 days," he said in the Badr newspaper, run by the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, a key Shiite political party which is closely allied to Maliki. "The government is waiting for an answer from the United States on the Iraqi suggestion to keep the sovereignty of Iraq and the interests...

ARLINGTON, Va., August 22 /Standard Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator John McCain today issued the following statement on the U.S.-Iraqi negotiations for a Status of Forces Agreement: "I am pleased that, following the surge strategy led by General David Petraeus and our brave men and women in uniform, security in Iraq has improved to the point at which we can responsibly talk with our Iraqi allies about U.S. troop withdrawals. Because of the hard-won success of this strategy, the Iraqi security forces are able to take on ever greater responsibility for security in their country. We should not forget that this...