Lost in translation *AGAIN*-Iraq says SOFA is "withdrawal record"

[underpants]

Iraqi version of SOFA called a ‘withdrawal accord.’»

Late last month during the heated negotiations over the U.S.-Iraq security agreement, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took issue with the pact’s terminology. “We don’t call it a security pact but an agreement to withdraw the troops and organize their activities during the period of their presence in Iraq,” Maliki said. Now that an agreement has been reached, which includes a mandate for all U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, Maliki’s terminology has been made official:

The Bush administration had sought a conventional status of forces agreement that would provide a semi-permanent basis for stationing troops in Iraq, while Obama campaigned on promises to withdraw all combat troops within 16 months of his inauguration. The Arabic language version calls the final agreement a withdrawal accord.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/20/withdrawal-accord/


AGAIN???-yes let's look back at how Bush managed to apologize to China for shooting down our spy plane

Bush warns China over spy plane
Tuesday, 3 April, 2001
The White House has insisted that there can be no apology for the incident.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1259236.stm


US spy plane crew heads home after `apology'
Apr 12, 2001
THE 11-DAY crisis between the the United States and China ended early today after the Chinese accepted a letter with two "very sorrys" and freed the crew of the US spy plane.

The diplomatic log jam broke with the delivery of a letter in China the night before, signed by US ambassador James Prueher, that stressed the "sincere regret" felt by President George Bush and his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, for the Chinese pilot's death. It said the US was "very sorry" about the pilot and for "entering China's airspace" and landing "without verbal clearance".

This form of words allowed China to stick to its claim that the plane violated its airspace (despite US insistence that it was in international airspace when the collision occurred) and had landed in China without permission. The Chinese translation of "very sorry" was close enough to an apology to save face in both capitals.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_/ai_n14381202