Iraqi Leaders Call for Military Exit Schedule

ap via foxnews.com ^ | November 22, 2005

[paudio]

CAIRO, Egypt — Leaders of Iraq's sharply divided Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis called Monday for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces in the country and said Iraq's opposition had a "legitimate right" of resistance.

The final communique, hammered out at the end of three days of negotiations at a preparatory reconciliation conference under the auspices of the Arab League, condemned terrorism, but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if their operations do not target innocent civilians or institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens.

[elfman2]

"Well, that'll sure give them a disincentive to attack soldiers! "

They have the exact same disincentive to attack our military as always. AFAIK, we never made attacking our forces a war crime, punishable by imprisonment beyond the end of hostilities. And the world and the democrats are not going to let us start in Iraq.

[notigar]

So why issue the statement if all its doing is re-affirming that we can't prosecute them for war crimes? By the way, I doubt one in a hundred people fighting us right now care either way.

[jw777]

Terrorists should not be labled insurgents, period.

[jamese777]

"Who are the "leaders" mentioned and who do they represent? Why were they meeting in Cairo? Let's get the facts before we jump to conclusions."


The President of Iraq was at the meeting. As were leaders of the Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shiites.
The meeting was held in Cairo because it was a meeting of The Arab League on the future of Iraq and the Arab League is headquartered in Cairo.

[MayflowerMadam]

Can anyone cite a legitimate source for the statistic being thrown out there that "80% of the Iraqis want us out"? We hear it "quoted" frequently, but haven't seen an actual poll or survey.

[RetiredArmy]

I really don't give a care if you think I am dead wrong. Read it again pal. SARCASM! I am for the troops first, second and third. All POLITICIANS can go to hell. I only care about the troops. READ IT AGAIN. SARCASM!

[Dog Gone]

Who are these "leaders"? Iraqi elected officials, or self-proclaimed leaders?

It makes a big difference.

[cdrw]

part of the plan all along

Yes. It is for the same reason that Zarqawi's crowd will hang around even if it's just three of them setting off the occasional IED. The moment we leave they will declare victory regardless of circumstances on the ground.

[SeaBiscuit]

"Who are these "leaders"?"

Thats the real question here. My guess is they are Iraqi equivalents of rat talking heads.. not the 'real' leaders of Iraq.

[TheDon]

The statement recognized that goal, but did not lay down a specific time — reflecting instead the government's stance that Iraqi security forces must be built up first.

Don't believe headlines, especially if they sound absurd.

[Austin Willard Wright]

Are you saying that the President of Iraq is not a "real leader?"

[GraniteStateConservative]

The Iraqi military and police can deal with the terrorists just fine, when properly motivated, and will, once we get off their backs.

Exactly. I don't at all buy that they couldn't take care of this problem on their own. Some people here at FR forget how huge that country is. They have at least 3-4M able-bodied men/older teens to deal with this problem. That's way bigger than our troop level. They have to have the will to do it and then do it.

Also, once we leave and this is just a situation of an Iraqi government dealing with Iraqi revolutionaries, then the official Iraqi government can appeal to the UN and the member nations individually to form a huge peacekeeping force-- letting France and Germany show that they just aren't merely anti-American when it comes to military operations.

[George W. Bush]

Indeed I am not. My real point, maybe I'm too abstract, is that we need to make clear that this communique gets used as toilet paper by our military. "Militants = terrorists, and there should be no gray area concerning this point. This is a change in stance on the part of Iraqi officials including their President that must be corrected like yesterday. If the Iraqi Government sanctions this wrong thinking, then let the A-Holes fight it out, and we go back in when the shooting is done. I'm also ready for a frigging refund on all the money we spent to liberate these ungrateful basturds!

Sorry, you don't qualify for cut-and-run status. No Murtha Medal Of Retreat for you! You're going to have to try harder.

As far as ungrateful, that's no surprise to anyone. And letting them pay? That's the vast majority here at FR.

Sorry, it seems you're standard-issue war-fightin' material here at the old Republic.

[elfman2]

"So why issue the statement if all its doing is re-affirming that we can't prosecute them for war crimes? By the way, I doubt one in a hundred people fighting us right now care either way."

I'n not sure. Aside from politics, the statement may be issued because we frequently label them all terrorists. Maybe it’s even good news, with Iraq’s native insurgents/terrorists trying to distance themselves from al-Qaeda’s after their screw up in Jordan.

[Da Mav]

This headline and article is basically left wing spin.

The position of the conference is the same as that of the Bush Administration: When the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. If you read the article carefully they didn't propose and immediate timetable, and in fact said it was premature to do so.

The line on the terrorists specifically condemns deliberate violence against civilians and constructive institutions. Obviously it does not apply to the al Qaeda driven terrorist in Iraq which boast about doing exactly that.

[SeaBiscuit]

The President attended but there are no references to him actually stating what is expressed in that news item.

[GraniteStateConservative]

should be publicized that it is within the wishes of the Iraqi government to stop the terrorists and liberals of lying and say we were run out of Iraq.

A declaration praising the coalition's efforts and stating that the "war" is over and that "we" were victorious, combined with an invitation we can depart with their full gratitude for our sacrifice would do the trick. We need closure on this and we can't provide it ourselves or the MSM/DNC won't acknowledge it.

[conservativecorner]

"Sorry, you don't qualify for cut-and-run status. No Murtha Medal Of Retreat for you! You're going to have to try harder."

You have me pegged. LOL! I'm saying that the Administration should come down like a hammer on these jackasses. They need to make very clear that we are fighting a battle at home to keep our Troops there to finish the job. Help like this we do not need. I'm afraid if we don't at least have a diplomatic backtracking by the Iraqi Govt., we may have lose the upper hand in this continuing battle.

And who will suffer while we dither? None other than the Troops who shouldn't be subjected to this propaganda by the arabs under ANY circumstances. These types of statements will only serve to alienate our Troops from the population, and again, it is unacceptable. My problem is that I don't think we are going to get that strong response to the OUTRAGE of this communique from the Administration. I pray that I'm wrong because it would be a victory for RIGHT and America.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Agreed. But the media is one front on this war and one we should not ignore. Vietnam was a loss not because we pulled out but because we cut off aid and the South collapsed. A MSM inspired, Democrat controlled legislature could do the same thing a couple of years down the road. That coupled with an Iranian invation... This would leave a lot of people saying it wasn't worth it, we should mind our own business, etc. Of course that's only one scenario. I'm agreeing wholeheartedly with what you are writing, I'm just pointing out that MSM spin should not be ignored but addressed head-on.

It's important to have present-day victory in addition to future-day victory (which would be determined by historians). Have the Iraqis say, "Mission Accomplished." The media can try to spin it however they want, but at the end of the day, the soundbite that people will hear is that the Iraqi government told us we won the war and that they appreciated all that we did-- that's all Bush needs for his purposes.

[backhoe]

Hadn't seen this- thanks for calling it to my attention.