Iraqi parliament OKs US troops for 3 more years

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Source: Associated Press

Iraqi parliament OKs US troops for 3 more years

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, center, speaks to the press AP – Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, center, speaks to the press outside the Iraqi parliament …

BAGHDAD – Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved by a wide margin a security pact with the United States that lets American troops stay in Iraq for three more years.

The vote in favor of the pact was backed by the ruling coalition's Shiite and Kurdish blocs as well as the largest Sunni Arab bloc, which had demanded concessions for supporting the deal.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared to have won the comfortable majority that he sought in order to give the agreement additional legitimacy.

<snip>

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

[ixion]

1. well, that's just ducky... another few trillion down the tube

:grr: :argh:

[Mari333]

2. thats right. and more soldiers not coming home. n/t

[ixion]

4. yeah, it's a lose - lose all the way around

for both the people of Iraq and the US. It's a winner only for the MIC.

[ohio2007]

9. you would prefer they stay another hundred years ?

This is a three yr downsize vote.
When the president elect chimes in, maybe then you will see the light of this vote?

[pampango]

3. Here's the BBC report.

"Iraq parliament backs US pullout."

"The Iraqi parliament has voted to accept a deal on the future presence of US troops in the country.

The decision means US troops will leave Iraqi streets by the middle of next year and will leave Iraq entirely by the end of 2011."

[Deja Q]

5. 3 down, 97 to go...

:evilgrin: :evilfrown:

[dugak93]

6. Wait a minute...

I thought the Iraqis wanted us out???? WTF????

[Oregone]

7. Why would the puppet government represent the will of the people at large who...

watched their loved ones be tore asunder by bombing raids or killed in ongoing sectarian strife, who watched children in the street die of cholera and dysentery from no running water, who cower in fear ever time a car engine back fire because it reminds them of the bullet that took their child away from them...

[ohio2007]

12. they go to the polls in january as you know

let the people decide to throw out the current shia politicians or listen to them stump as to why they "did the right thing" so vote me back in ect.

[Oregone]

13. We also go to the polls

I hardly feel the ruling elite here feel our pain.

[ohio2007]

10. they don't want the country to break apart for at least three more years.

in 2012, let the lines be drawn in the sand

[dugak93]

14. Are there any current polls....

that can tell us what the average iraqi wants (Shia, Kurd and Sunni). I thought that they were dead set against us being there. Why did they vote to extend 3 more years of occupation?

<begin yoda voice>
Confused mightily I am
</end yoda voice>

dugak93

[ohio2007]

19. The Iraqi's don't "do " polls and the MSM won't report results unless the question line can lead to

the answer they want;

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/11/25/africa/OUKWD-UK-IRAQ-SADR.php

If it bleeds,it leads,
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLR29732720081127

if it don't, it won't

[ohio2007]

8. 220 out of 275 legislators attended

The country's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, had indicated that the deal would be acceptable only if passed by a comfortable majority

snip

A bloc of 30 lawmakers loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who wants U.S. forces to leave Iraq immediately, chanted protests and hoisted banners that said "No, no to the agreement"

So, what was the # of "nays" out of 220 quorum ?

30 ?

would be interesting to see that data

[RussBLib]

11. I presume this would allow us to leave earlier

...if that were to be feasible. This pact ALLOWS our troops to stay for three years, but does not REQUIRE them to, correct? Or do I read it wrong? So the withdrawal can begin, and if it takes three years to get every last troop outta there, so be it. The vast majority could be out much sooner.

[tabasco]

15. Yeah, I imagine they would.

The minute the US Army departs, they lose their jobs and paychecks.

[Amonester]

16. They'll lose their jobs and paychecks anyway, as soon as...

the american empire will go bankrupt (and, a the current rate, it's in less than 3 years)...

[ohio2007]

20. Malikis party will payroll them to public works projects. They got surplus oil $$$ nt

Unless you want to spin this as a doom and gloom grim milestone

Oil drops 5 percent on demand slump

http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSTRE49B3Y620081128

continue to conserve

[Dangerman]

17. F*ck Al-Maliki and his government!

He's an asskisser and don't give a damn about an immediate withdrawal of our troops.

Al-Sadr will be pissed! Now there will be more bloodshed on the streets and more American troops will come home... on caskets!

[dipsydoodle]

18. There's a bit missing from that Yahoo report

After last-minute negotiations that had delayed the vote for a day, MPs passed it on one significant condition: that a referendum is held on the pact in the middle of next year.

If that fails to endorse the withdrawal plan, US troops may have to leave earlier, possibly by the middle of 2010, our correspondent says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7752580.stm