Bush praises security pact approval

[unhappycamper]

Bush praises security pact approval
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 27, 2008 14:56:42 EST

CAMP DAVID, Md. — President Bush on Thursday applauded Iraq’s parliamentary vote approving an agreement allowing U.S. troops to remain for three more years, saying it “affirms the growth” of democracy there.

“Two years ago, this day seemed unlikely,” Bush said in a statement from his Maryland mountaintop retreat. “But the success of the surge and the courage of the Iraqi people set the conditions for these two agreements to be negotiated and approved by the Iraqi parliament.”

Bush, who was spending Thanksgiving Day with his family at Camp David, also praised a separate accord that he said “sets the foundation” for a long-standing relationship between Washington and Baghdad.

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.

“The improved conditions on the ground and the parliamentary approval of these two agreements serve as a testament to the Iraqi, coalition and American men and women, both military and civilian, who paved the way for this day,” Bush said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_bushiraq_112708/%2e