UIC leader: Most points settled in U.S.-Iraqi agreement (

BAGHDAD, July 14 (VOI) – Iraq and the United States have agreed on most points of the joint cooperation agreement, which is scheduled to govern the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq, a Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition leader said on Monday.

"Disagreement between the Iraqi and U.S. sides has largely subsided and they have agreed on many points," Hassan al-Saneed told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq- (VOI).
According to al-Saneed, the Iraqi vision of the security agreement with Washington can be divided into three aspects: cultural, economic and educational strategic cooperation, a timetabled withdrawal of the Multi-National Force (MNF), and military operations' go-ahead and coordination with the Iraqi government.
"Fighting terrorism will entail joint operations and coordination with the Iraqi government…," Saneed noted.
Commenting on the immunity granted to U.S. forces in Iraq, the parliamentarian said: "A U.S. soldier will be subject to U.S. law inside his camp, but outside the camp many details of how to subject him to Iraqi law will have to be further discussed."
When asked about the main point of disagreement between the two sides, Saneed said: "Both sides believe that it is necessary to set a time limit on troop presence, but they disagree on the period that foreign troops should stay in Iraq."
The Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC) is the largest parliamentary bloc, which holds 82 seats in the Parliament.
The agreement governs the presence of U.S. forces in the country after 2008 and will not come into force without the approval of the Iraqi Parliament, which has 275 members from five blocs, in addition to the Sadrist movement and al-Fadhila party. The U.S. troops' presence currently relies on a mandate by the United Nations and is annually renewed at the request of the Iraqi government.
A declaration of principles was signed between U.S. President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in December 2007. The declaration was scheduled to be ratified on July 31, 2008 and to come into force as of January 1, 2009.

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From the Blogosphere ( Strata Sphere ):

Obama Grasps For Life Line On Iraq

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Published by AJStrata at 6:28 am under All General Discussions, Iraq, Sadr/Mahdi Army

Obama is looking as quite the lost soul. Based upon news reports Prime Minister Maliki would like to consider a timeline for the successful withdrawal of our forces from Iraq, now that Maliki believes victory is at hand, Obama is trying to claim is calls for surrendering Iraq to al-Qaeda now make sense.

THE call by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity. We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States.
…
In the 18 months since President Bush announced the surge, our troops have performed heroically in bringing down the level of violence. New tactics have protected the Iraqi population, and the Sunni tribes have rejected Al Qaeda — greatly weakening its effectiveness.
But the same factors that led me to oppose the surge still hold true.

What is this fool smoking? After a smashing success where Iraq is all but eradicated of al-Qaeda and the Muslim world is turning on it because of al-Qaeda’s atrocities on their fellow Muslims, nothing has changed? Obama really is full of himself to arrogantly think most Americans are not snickering behind his back right now. Last year a forced withdrawal over THE OBJECTIONS of the Iraqis and our President would have handed Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda a huge victory, keeping them alive and making them the future of Islam. Iraqis would have been slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands (instead of the tens of thousands al-Qaeda and their allies killed) and Iran would have rushed in to save the Shiite from another massacre.

Instead al-Qaeda is now the enemy of Islam - that happened because no one listened to you Senator Obama. Right now Iran’s influence on Iraq has been dealt a serious blow as Shiite Prime Minister Maliki spearheaded the destruction of the Mahdi Militia - something that would not have happened if we listened to you Senator. Right now al-Qaeda and the Taliban have a very limited and encircled sanctuary in the tribal lands of Pakistan - not something we would have seen if they had taken over Iraq and were heading to Israel, as they planned - because we listened to you Senator.

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The verbal gymnastics of Barack Obama and his surrogates on Iraq is just mind-numbing! Today on Meet the Press, Tom Brokaw zeroed in on Obama surrogate Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and clearly demonstrated how contorted Obama's shifting positions on an Iraq Withdrawal have become. Listen to this exchange . . . (see video)

You can tell that Brokaw is disbelieving of the fact that Obama is actually continuing to say pompously that he will "call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff on his first day in office" and "give them a new mission." That mission being - Get our troops out in 16 months, even while he prepares for a trip to Iraq to supposedly "listen to our commanders on the ground."

So, let me get this straight - He's going to listen to the commanders on the ground in Iraq later this month, and then do what he wants to do in January 2009 as President, irrespective of their advice. Niiiice! That's the kind of Commander-in-Chief we need!

What the heck. No different then sending out Federal Checks to US tax payers. If it helps relieve the misery of some so be it. I for one don't view it as a political stunt but a means of showing Iraqi people the new government institution has plans of helping it's citizens.
It is so easy to imagine how many really poor people roam the streets in these large population centers. Show all Iraqi they will be better off under the new government then they would have been under the Saddam regime, and we may find the country turns around even quicker then one might imagine.
The fat boy lays upon his couch outside Qom and belts down lamb chops. Maliki is in the streets handing out money. So in that respect one could think of a political motive, but again so be it. Milk them off a pure social state by providing a strong economy most all can participate eventually. Then only the real poor and disadvantaged in the way of work potential will remain on the welfare programs.

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