In Break With Bush, Iraq PM Demands US Withdrawal Timetable

Iraq said for the first time yesterday that it wanted to set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from its territory.

President Bush has long resisted a schedule for pulling his 145,000 soldiers out, arguing that it would play into the hands of insurgents. Nouri al-Maliki, the Shia Prime Minister, who boasted last week that he had crushed terrorism in the country, suggested that it was time to start setting time-lines.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[keepemhonest]

Money& Oil:

a) After the U.S. invaded Iraq, the USA took control of all the Iraqi"s bank accounts, including income from OIL.

b) USA stored hundreds of millions of OIL dollars in a vault in a Baghdad palace. Auditors found the key to the vault was kept "unsecured" " in a U.S. official"s backpack.

c) A draft government audit faults the United States for "inadequate stewardship" of up to $8.8 billion in OIL money, handed over to Iraq"s ministries but NEVER fully accounted for.

d) Auditors for UN's Iraq Advisory found: Missing records and Two sets of books at Iraq's Finance Ministry, which did not match.

e)6/30/2008 Shell, Exxon, Total & BP won a NO BID 30 Year Contract to Drill in Iraq - under a controversial law the US government has been involved in drawing up.

f) 1999 - VPCheney, said in 1999, while CEO of oil services company Halliburton, the world would need an additional 50 million barrels of oil a day by 2010. "So where is the oil going to come from? The Middleeast, with two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies," he said.

hmmm... the "prize" of oil in mideast ... invade Iraq with 'non-existent' intelligence linking Saddam with al Qaeda ... control Iraq's money & oil ... draft laws that Western oil companies get a 30 year no-bid drilling contract.

Bush/Cheney/McCain's war has always been about the "prize" control the Iraq oil fields.

[CC1]

Well great!! Iraq wants the USA out, Americans want the USA out, probably most troops there want to be out, and the rest of the world wants USA out. Everyone knows this, except the one with the actual power to get us out.

[mostlyharmless]

george bush got confused about how democracy works . . . when people are elected to office, they are supposed to serve the people whom they represent

although they are still being held at gunpoint, the iraqis are acting so democracy-minded, and downright uppity, that bush & co must be starting to worry they'll also have the sense/nerve to file a complaint with the hague . . . maybe even sue for some war reparations

of course, we the people would get to foot that bill, and as an opponent of bush's iraq policy from the very start, i'm going to resent it . . . but maybe a further degradation of our standard of living will get through to the yahoos that you don't go and bomb a country just to make yourself feel proud of your country

[SmellyOne]

Let's go... let's get out of there.

I'm glad Maliki is confident enough to tell us we can go. WHY is he so confident? Because we stayed as long as we did.

[CyrusBeaucephus]

We brought terrorism to Iraq in the wake of our illegal invasion, and they will have to deal with it as long as we are there. Puppet governments aren't supposed to make demands of their masters.

Remember why we invaded? Bush lied about Saddam being an imminent threat to America, and said he was involved in the 911 attacks. That was so many lies ago most of us hav e forgotten. Its a good thing we are thrashing another country at great expense to our own domestic economy so that fat pasty Red State men can crow proudly about "Victory". What a joke this country has become under "conservative" rule. (ps there is nothing remotely "conservative" about war crimes--the word you are looking for is "criminal")

[gapanther]

If they want us out, let's leave. Pull the troops out and leave all the private "contractors". Let Haliburton take care of the mess they're profiting from.

[bullypulpit]

If only...

Though it would be nice to believe the Iraqis finally got some backbone and truly wish to see the occupation end, this is probably just another ploy to milk us for more money and aid.

The US military and contractors are so embedded in that poor benighted nation, it will take considerably more than bravado to remove them.

[MissingAmerica]

What a sign of the times. By once again proving he is not a man of his word, Bush is also proving that he is wants to stay because of the oil. We are illegally occupying Iraq, yet Congress does nothing and the UN does not order him to cease and desist or face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. By the way, they toasted at the G8 with champagne, Bush included. What happened to this liar's "clean and sober" spiel? This man wouldn't know the truth if it bit him where the Good Lord split him! Bottom line? We must impeach if we are to survive.

[gopindrag]

It's a lot like rape, isn't it? W as the rapist and Iraq as victim?

[TotobiAyokoh23]

The Japanese would describe what America is doing in Iraq as "Yokei no Osewa." Find that out.

[steamboat]

SO LETS LEAVE.........let the oil folks negotiate with the Iraqi's, I'd like to say bye-bye. Troops needed in Afghanistan and in reserve elsewhere.

[mnash]

We can't leave Iraq, we want the OIL. There are 4 oil companies over there "no bid" contracts to get it,
Thanks to Bush and Cheney. McCain was on Morning Joe this morning and was asked about it. He basically indicated 'we would not be leaving Iraq". If you do, what will McCain have to talk about???????

[MagisterLudi]

Of course we want the oil. What is wrong with that?

The question is how to do it in an equatable way so Iraqis get the lion share of the profits.

The bulk of the coalition forces would hopefully leave in 2009, but a small contingent will stay in Iraq for near future to guard against Jihadist insurgence and any radical shifts in Iraqi governance.

[southafrica4obama]

Why we went to Iraq and shouldn't withdraw:

"State Department"s role in an oil deal between a Texas oil company and the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut the government in Baghdad. The company, Hunt Oil of Dallas, has close ties to President Bush."

[grn1]

Get your story straight. This is not the first time the president of Iraq has set a timetable. It is however the first time I've seen it reported here. Maybe they can stage a troop withdrawal to coincide with some political goal (campaign or save a legacy). One last chance to use the military as fodder.

[bhyman]

I think that al-Maliki sees the opportunity in the Obama candidacy and can now freely express his opinion, likely influencing our Iraq policy. Shrewd move, and one that may save his job for awhile.

Despite my support for this move, I don't think the immediate result should be returning our troops home. We still have a job to do in Afghanistan, one that was neglected by our Iraq adventure. Unfortunately, our troops need to be redeployed to Afghanistan and possibly Pakistan to finish the job of eradicating the Taliban, America's true enemy.

Our troops have done incredibly well given the mission they were assigned. They are not designed to be an occupying force, nor should they be. I pray for their safe return and hope that day comes soon.

[Egalitare]

"...the Taliban, America's true enemy."

The Taliban should not be "the enemy" we are fighting. They are guilty of harboring bin Laden and AQ and for being religious zealots (strict sharia law and destruction of the Great Buddhas), but that is pretty much the extent of their "sins."

AQ and its now many offshoots should have been the focus the whole time, and even the goal of eradicating them will be a constantly moving target. Post bin-Laden, a new leadership may focus on bolstering like-minded activists in the Middle East to overthrow "heretical" governments in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai as a more practical, more achieveable means of exerting their will on the "Infidel."

[USAisEVIL]

Spoken like a true imperialist. Rationalize keeping your killers in Iraq because of some "threats" in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Stop praying for the return of your beloved troops. The duly elected leader of Iraq, under pressure from his own people wants the evil occupiers who are destroying his nation to get the hell out. Seems reasonable, but not to imperialist Americans like bhyman. Keep praying while your troops keep killing. Why does the world hate America?

[MagisterLudi]

Why does the Muslim Jihadi world hate America?

It's the usual paradigm of envious weak hating the strong.

Thus it always been and always will remain.

[CC1]

Actually most "imperialist" Americans want the troops out as well. If USA did a complete 180-degree turn probably someone somewhere would find a reason to whine.

[innerpeace]

Are you referring to the duly elected leader who is a duly elected leader because of the occupiers?Yes,he really wishes that Saddam was back and that he was not the duly elected leader.LOL Put some thought into your posts rather than knee jerk nonsense.I love the way that you claim to speak for the world.You sound like Bush.

[1proudinfidel]

Spoken like a true hater and Jim Jones follower.
How can you say the world hates America when people are coming here every day for the opportunities this country offers. We have the best educational system in the world, we have the best medical facilities in the world and our Freedoms are the envy of the world. I do not know where you are getting your information from, but it is no way accurate. I believe the word killers are reserved for the ones who actually target innocents with indiscriminate bombing. Don't give me that crap about "evil occupiers" and they are just trying to get us out of their country. Do some research and get back to me without the emotional edge and moral high ground you claim to have.

[dezzertguy]

There is a difference between the elected leadership of a freed country asking for the liberators to leave and just a created timetable for politicans. Pelosie, Reid, et.al. are just politicans using the timetable issue to get media time and try to critize the other political party. This is real success when the country feels confident that they can truly control their future. With the removal of the uranium cake, the foregiveness of debt and other nations resuming diplomatic relations, Iraq is nearing its re-entry in the world.

[jeanrenoir]

Right on target. I hope this appropriately boosts the Obama campaign by helping drop the neocon-manufactured scales from the outFoxed American mob. Maybe a marginal few of them will take it from Maliki that the Obama approach to the Iraq War is what the Iraqis want, not a third Bush term under Occupier-in-Chief McCain.