http://afp.google.com/art...vVoT-TH4hbr_K6kxEU9ldiDcAIraq opposes any clause letting US stay after 2011
16 hours ago
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Baghdad wants to delete any reference in a security pact with Washington to the possibility of US troops staying in Iraq after 2011, an MP close to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday.
The demand is one of five amendments proposed by Iraq, Ali al-Adib, a member of the Shiite Dawa party, told AFP.
But it gets better:
http://ap.google.com/arti...VUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD9452DR83Iraqi officials have said the changes must be made in the draft agreement before it can be approved by parliament in time for the Dec. 31 expiration of a U.N. Security Council mandate under which coalition troops operate in Iraq.
Without an agreement or a new U.N. mandate, the U.S. military would have to suspend all operations in Iraq after that.
"We are waiting for a response from the U.S. negotiators on how much they can accommodate," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told CNN. "I think both sides here have reached the moment of truth. The time window is closing, and a decision has to be made as soon as possible."
But the Bush administration's hope to secure the deal while in office was fading with the new Iraqi demands, despite White House assurances that an agreement was still possible.
This is getting NO coverager here, which I find odd.
Also, Shrubco is making NO plans for the eventuality that an agreement or UN mandate extension isn't granted, which I don't find so odd...
