Iraq probably will miss deadline on U.S. troop decision, officials say

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s political leaders appear set to miss a deadline this weekend for deciding whether to ask U.S. military forces to stay beyond December, according to Iraqi and American officials familiar with negotiations.

President Jalal Talabani has given Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top leaders until Saturday to reach an agreement on what, if any, sustained U.S. military presence Iraq might need. But Maliki and his rivals, beset by other domestic political disputes, remain divided over the matter, including how to formally ask the Obama administration for such an extension, officials said.

With leaders still at an impasse, and despite Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s remark last week that Iraqi leaders should “dammit, make a decision,” most U.S. officials say they do not anticipate receiving a formal request from the Iraqis until September, meaning that the roughly 46,000 U.S. troops in Iraq remain on course to withdraw by Dec. 31. One senior U.S. military official recently suggested a request might not come until March.

“The later they come, the harder it is to respond to that,” Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, the lead U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said in an interview late last week. If a request were made in March, he said, the United States “has committed to an enduring partnership with Iraq,” but he added that it would be more feasible for Iraqis to ask for help now, “while we have troops here and infrastructure here.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/iraq-likely-to-miss-deadline-on-us-troop-decision-officials-say/2011/07/20/gIQAPPuvRI_story.html

[iwishiwas]

1. Leave.

[July16th-20th]

2. Good!

I want ZERO uniformed Americans in Iraq on Jan. 1st!

[neoralme]

6. Me 2. But Obama will do what the corporatists want.

[No Elephants]

3. Hard decision for Iraq. The U.S. has big sticks AND big carrots.

Interesting:

"Since President Obama formally declared the start of Operation New Dawn last September, the U.S. military has shifted from combat missions to training Iraqi forces, conducting joint counterterrorism operations, patrolling Iraq’s skies and providing security for tens of thousands of U.S. diplomats and contractors.

Security for U.S. civilians will shift next year to private security firms, but Maliki and others have suggested that training, air defense and border patrol operations could be part of a new security agreement.

Panetta and other top officials have said the United States is willing to continue such operations, but only if the Iraqis formally request them. Estimates quoted in recent news reports suggest anywhere from 3,000 to 15,000 troops would stay on into 2012. Any agreement would have to include guarantees of legal immunity for U.S. forces, according to U.S. officials."





Of those "tens of thousands," how many do you supposed are U.S. diplomats and how many are contractors? And we'll be paying private security firms to protect contractors? Another part of the free market that is not free to U.S. taxpayers.

I urge you to resist the temptation to read only bits of this article. Follow the link and read all of it.

[Volaris]

5. I think that I've come to a decision...

If the Government of Iraq wants the U.S. Military to be in it's country as a training apparatus, I am mostly ok with that (as long as none of our people are getting SHOT at), but then they should cover the cost of having us train them; they can decide on the basis of the fact that the American People are not willing to pay for this any longer how they would like to approach the training needs of their own sovereign forces.

I want OUT, but if were not getting shot at, AND they want to pay us to be there, I'm o.k. with that...short of that, though, fuck 'em...they're on their own. (and when I say PAY us for it, I mean every fucking red cent of the associated costs.)

If the Pentagon is going to act like the Pinkerton Co. for the rest of the planet, then the rest of the planet can be charged accordingly for the service. That is all.

Peace...

[dipsydoodle]

4. That's ok then

.