Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki demands US withdrawal timetable

Source: The Times (of London)

Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki demands US withdrawal timetable


James Hider in Baghdad
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.

“The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or to put a timetable on their withdrawal,” Mr al-Maliki said during a visit to the United Arab Emirates. He rejected efforts by Mr Bush to hurry through an agreement on vital issues such as the immunity of US troops in Iraq and use of the country’s airspace. Mr Bush had hoped to sign a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the end of July to establish the basis for a long-term presence of US troops in the country.



Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article4288108.ece

Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has abruptly resigned to "spend more time with his family".


:tinfoilhat:

Good One...HA HA..The Chenyster is about to make a trip

Sounds like he's rootin' for 'Bama. Imagine McLame's indignation.

Lambchop bit Ms. Lewis a hard one right on the nose. Lambchop retires to the sock puppet drawer.

:patriot:

They won't be able to claim what was promised in Cheney's energy meetings without enforcers.

I recall something about that in the news shortly after we invaded

we will stand down when the Iraqis stand up.

I don't see any answer to this. Various members of the Bush administration have repeated that all the Iraqis have to do is tell us to leave. Of course that's a lie from the git-go. But I wonder how these vermin are going to spin this.

God, I hate these execrable insects!!

Chimpy said it not only once, but twice.

Should we have ANY reason to BELEIVE he didn't... hmmmm... LIE again?

hmmmm?

:nuke: :patriot: :nuke:

That Obama (if elected) will continue the Repub policy of talking about 'pulling out', but in reality leave a large number of military bases there?

Why do I also suspect that he'll help the US oil companies to screw over Iraq?

Meh, maybe I'm being too cynical.

That would be my guess.

Welcome to DU.

and will not be tempted to stay the course, "only smarter".

The oil wealth of Iraq is ASTRONOMICAL, and they currently have only about 1/100 of the drilling capacity of Texas...

The US will never leave willingly, and just being POTUS isn't going to make Congress and the Senate vote for it.

WHOLESALE CHANGE is necessary.

Why do you suspect that?

We can hope otherwise, but the idea that we choose our presidents is so passe according to the powers that be.

like they're screwing over Kuwait, Saudi, UAE, Qatar...?

that there are only so many options, and we can either work for and support the best one available or crawl under a rock. I know what I intend to do - you can make up your own mind.

a large statue of Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was toppled by US troops today in baghdad square. the headless statue was then dragged around the square. when reporters sought out the Prime Minister, he was nowhere to be found. search parties have been sent out to spider holes throughout the war-torn country.

...who will guard the oil sparky!?!

i guess they've moved on to destroying the economy.

:rofl:

... Malaki will challenge Pelosi for her gavel.

Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia wanted the Soviets to withdraw, but they had other plans, also.

and that is determined to occupy and rule that country for as long as they wish. It never said in the beginning this was the plan but all along it was. The Iraqi people are saying HEY WE CAN DO IT ON OUR OWN, the American people are saying HEY LET THEM DO IT ON THEIR OWN and the B*sh admin is making up all the excuses and pushing all the propaganda it can to stay there.

...IMHO.

no way will we give up on all that oil! I fear for Maliki at this point if he does not back down . . . but I will have a far greater respect for him if he and his people stand firm on this request. :patriot:

That heavy breathing sound? It's how seriously he's taking them.

Source: Raw Story

Iraq's national security adviser says his country will not accept any deal with the United States unless the agreement sets specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces...

Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Iraq_insists_on_withdrawal_timetable__0708.html

---

I believe not too long ago, Bush said if the Iraqis asked us to leave, we would go. Wonder what his excuse will be now?

The ol' "we know what's best for the slightly-less-than-human little brown folk."

:popcorn:

:eyes:

:D

yea, good to know that the Iraqis are finally getting a backbone. Not that it will do any good with Dubya in power. But, look at that page on Raw Story.
To the left is a pretty bad picture of Obama with the question "Obama Finished?" + "Vote Here Now"!!!
Gawd, I've seen these kinds of pictures all over the internet on every news site but didn't expect to see it in Raw Story.
WTF is up with that? Crikey, if Obama doesn't get elected, we AND the Iraqis can look forward to 100 years more of our presence in their so called sovereign country.

newsmax is a Rethug infested site that litters tons of websites with their seemingly innocent poll ads. You see them everywhere, "who will be McCain's VP - vote here" "Barrack or Hillary - vote here" I think I've even seen them on DU. (could be wrong) They are paid advertisements so that is why they exist on left and right wing sites. But pay them no heed. Those "polls" are to entice you to click. If you click you are just increasing their traffic count and helping them. Their site is set up to look like a legitimate news site until you look closer. No negative McCain stories. Many negative Obama stories.

That looked like a classic case of poisoning if there ever was one. I guess it was just a situation where everybody was ready to see Arafat gone. I wonder how many friends al-Malaki has.

<img src=>

With anybody else but me
Anybody else but me
Anybody else but me

It's time to "reaccomplish" the mission.

Nothing has changed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/30/AR2006113001175.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0607/p01s03-usfp.html

GEORGE BUSH IS YOUR ARCHETYPE

What is an empire to do??????????

I guess it was just another one of *junior's lies :(

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/24/politics/politico/thecrypt/main2848888.shtml

Just like how he would fire anyone involved with the CIA leak.

and the fact that the spineless mainstream media and the blank check "Democratic" congress won't hold his feet to the fire over this shit just tells me we've lost our country, completely. :(

Militias finished in Iraq's Basra: governor

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080708/wl_nm/iraq_basra_dc_1;_ylt=AmVQJxpSZGad.KsB9rVwFBtX6GMA

Maliki didn't say ZERO troop levels will be his goal when setting a time table.

imo,
they are willing to gamble their own people will back the Maliki governments talk in calling for the reduced footprint timetable.
The October elections draw near. ....

Whats mookie promising the masses from his dorm room in Qom ?

boycott?



yep

BAGHDAD - It is a politician's dream: Handing out cold, hard cash to people on the street as they plead for help. Iraq's prime minister has been doing just that in recent weeks, doling out Iraqi dinars as an aide trails behind, keeping a tally.The handouts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a handful of other top officials are authorized _ as long as each goes no higher than about $8,000, and the same people don't get them twice. Aides say they are meant merely to ease the pain a bit, and are motivated by a belief that better conditions will lead to more security.

The cash handouts are just one small _ if eye-catching _ part of a major investment push this summer by Iraq's government. The aim is to rebuild basic services and jumpstart Iraq's damaged economy by quickly distributing as much of the country's glut of oil revenue as possible.

U.S. officials and a fed-up American public are urging exactly that _ for Iraq to spend its own money, not America's, to rebuild the country now that violence has eased.


snip
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080713/tap-iraq-money-as-weapon-d3b07b8.html

As for al Sadr economic stimulus package;
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3325566

after a few months, dunno how that idea is catching on.

<inseert Sith death grip here>

Prolly ticks the Iraqis off no end.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article4322520.ece

The green zone of Baghdad, a highly fortified slice of American suburbia on the banks of the Tigris river, may soon be handed over to Iraqi control if the increasingly assertive government of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, gets its way.

A senior Iraqi government official said this weekend the enclave should revert to Iraqi control by the end of the year. “We think that by the end of 2008 all the zones in Baghdad should be integrated into the city,” said Ali Dabbagh, the government’s spokesman.

“The American soldiers should be based in agreed camps outside the cities and population areas.

“By the end of the year, there will be no green zone,” he added. “The separation by huge walls makes people feel angry.” Dabbagh acknowledged that getting rid of the green zone would be a huge undertaking, given the thousands of American soldiers, private contractors and foreign workers who live inside. He said the concrete walls that divide it from the rest of the city would be taken down slowly, “depending on the threat and circumstances”.

The prospect may prove disconcerting for the Americans, who have just begun to transfer their diplomatic operations in the zone from Saddam Hussein’s Republican Palace to a new embassy, the largest and most expensive in the world.

The £300m building, at the heart of the green zone, protected by blast walls and layers of barbed wire, is the size of the Vatican City. It is virtually a self-contained town, with a heli-pad, sewerage and water treatment plants, a telephone exchange with a Virginia dialling code, a swimming pool and a bombproof gym. It will contain 619 blast-resistant flats.

Under the Baghdad government’s plan the embassy will remain but the Iraqis will take back the five-square-mile secure “bubble” surrounding