U.S. to End Iraq Administration by June

[hlthe2b]

What if Sadaam has not been caught?......


BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - American administrators will hand over sovereignty to a new transitional government by June, the Iraqi Governing Council said Saturday, announcing an accelerated U.S. plan for ending the occupation of Iraq.

The plan would mean the end of the U.S.-led coalition administration in Iraq, but not the end of the American troop presence. The new Iraqi government would negotiate an accord on the status of U.S. forces in the country.

The announcement was made following talks between the 23-member council and the chief administrator, L. Paul Bremer, who returned Thursday from Washington after talks with President Bush and senior national security advisers.

Faced with escalating violence in Iraq, the Bush administration wants to speed up the handover of power to Iraqis - dropping its earlier insistence that the Iraqis first draw up a new constitution and hold general elections, a process likely to last at least another year.The Iraqis had been insisting on a faster transfer.

--more--
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031115/D7UR4IA80.html

[kentuck]

1. Don't we support this ??

Of course, we know the decision is political. Rove has told Dubya that if our troops are still dying and we seem to be bogged down in a quagmire in Iraq, this could be a threat to his maintaining power. So, by setting June as date for ending occupation, they can at least say their plan is to turn over the government to the Iraqis, whether theyare able to do it or not.

[hlthe2b]

2. yes.. I'm not saying we don't; but didn't Bush say yesterday.... that

they would not leave without having captured/killed Sadaam (and now they are giving a deadline?)


Interesting if we do leave in June and Sadaam starts to reconstitute his power in 6 months....

[kentuck]

4. But it's for public consumption...

and purely political. It might or might not happen, but it gives them an option as far as spinning their "intent" to hand over the government...

[neebob]

14. Saying we won't leave until Saddam is killed or captured

is really just a way of saying we will never leave, in my cynical opinion. A live, elusive boogey man is so much more valuable than a dead or captured one. I wouldn't presume to say he's already dead or in custody, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[neebob]

5. In order to support it

I have to believe (a) they intend to do it and (b) it will not be a puppet government or (c) it will lead to military and corporate withdrawal from Iraq. I don't believe any of those things. I simply don't believe anything the Fraudministration says.

[hlthe2b]

7. Therein lies the dilemma

for us... I sure as hell did not want us to go; we all knew it was ill conceived and would result in chaos. Now that we have chaos, my instincts are to get us the hell out of there. Unfortunately, the disaster that will occur if we go prematurely, means that our dead will have died in vain and many more may die as a result of the destabilization and anger in the region.

For the Bushies, I don't think they give a damn about any of this.... as long as they time their manipulations appropriately to gain election in 2004. So, I too don't believe they intend to accomplish any of the three goals you outline. damn it all; we are screwed, regardless...

[neebob]

15. I'm afraid you're right

I keep wondering who's gonna have the courage to tell Halliburton, Bechtel, and the others they have to pack it up and go home. Even with a real President who will get the military out, how do the corporate contractors get dealt with? How do we truly hand everything over to the Iraqis? I just don't see it happening.

[FloridaPat]

3. Really handing over to the Iraqis or a puppet government.

They need to sell everything before the troops will be allowed to come home. They need a "real" government to sign the papers. The current Iraqi group wants the collalition out and said any papers signed would be dissolved as soon as we left.

And they may turn it over in June, but if he gets elected, they will have no power again by November. Everyone's talking about us being there 10 years. The Bush people cannot afford democracy in the Middle East. If they were democratic, we would probably not get a drop of oil from them ever.

[gulliver]

6. A few questions.

1. Will the insurgents go along with it? If so, isn't that bad?
2. Why is it that the harder they hit us, the more we talk about leaving. Doesn't that look like they are driving us out?
3. Will the ME be safer afterward? Are we making another Pakistan, Afghanistan (same model), Saudi Arabia?

These questions come up because this is a big mess that Bush has created, and our country is paying dearly for it. IMO, we are likely going to get less than nothing out of this.

That is the second big shoe to drop, I think. Right now we are focusing on the costs. Soon we will be evaluating the benefits. What did we get? Is it what we thought we were being sold? (I know those questions are alive and well here at DU, but I think they are going to go mainstream very soon.)

[kentuck]

8. Bush gets political mileage by just saying we will hand over in June...

This relieves some of the pressure from both Dems and Repubs that we are in a dead-end situation. The likelihood is that we will be even more deeply entrenched by next June. But this is a temporary pressure release statement.

[hlthe2b]

9. Yeah, I agree with Kentuck that this is likely all it is....

But my concern likes with the fact that they will do whatever is politically expedient and heaven help our soldiers-- or us, for that matter....

[kentuck]

10. Yes, I agree..

whatever is politically expedient. Politics above all.


edit spelling

[joanski01]

11. I thought the goal was to

take over the Middle East. To build military bases in Iraq. I don't believe for one second that bush* did this to free Iraqi's. I believe that this is just more lies. Besides, just when did they start telling the truth and when did they start revealing their plans?

[kentuck]

12. But our puppets will be in charge...

We are not leaving..we are only handing over the government to the "Iraqis"...

[hedda_foil]

13. Agreed.

Or more explicity ...

We are not leaving..we are only "handing over" the "government" to the "Iraqis"... :eyes:(wink wink, nudge nudge)

[eleny]

16. well, we'll see what gumption

the dems summoned for themselves from the success of the marathon. i'm hoping they say something like "seeing is believing". if they fall in line like elementary school kids on a fire drill... well. i'm hoping and praying that the dems kick the ass out of this latest from the administration. something like holding them to it almost seems like too much to ask. but now is the time to push, push, push.