U.S., U.K. Offer Time Limit on Foreign Force in Iraq

U.S., U.K. Offer Time Limit on Foreign Force in Iraq

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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and Britain on Tuesday revised their U.N. resolution on handing sovereignty to Iraq (news - web sites) at the end of this month and offered a rough timetable for withdrawing U.S.-led foreign forces.

The original draft U.N. Security Council resolution had an open-ended mandate for the multinational force. The new text, obtained by Reuters, said the mandate "shall expire upon the completion of the political process."

Although the date for completing that process was not spelled out, diplomats said it would be when a permanent government took office, which they expected to be about December 2005.

An interim Iraqi government is to take office on June 30. Elections for a transitional government are to be held in January 2005, with a constitutionally elected government taking over at the end of next year.

more... http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20040601/ts_nm/iraq_un_force_dc

More word games.

two weeks after the oil wells run dry.

one as well.

<extreme sarcasm>

But then they change what they say and do something else. Doh!

Revised Iraq resolution would end mandate for multinational force by January 2006

The United States and Britain circulated a revised resolution on post-occupation Iraq Tuesday that would give the new interim government control over the Iraqi army and police and end the mandate for the multinational force by January 2006 at the latest.
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But France, Germany and Russia, which criticized the initial draft, raised questions about the revised resolution during closed-door Security Council discussions, council diplomats said.

Several other council members, including China, Chile and Algeria, said the new draft was an improvement but called for additional changes, especially in spelling out the military relationship.

''We still need to have language that would say that the Iraqi government's point of view will prevail over the MNF (multinational force) in case of major military operations,'' said Algeria's U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Baali, the only Arab member of the council.
But U.S. deputy ambassador James Cunningham insisted this didn't belong in the resolution. ''That's really an issue that we need to work out with the Iraqis,'' he said.
Cunningham said the U.S.-British amendments ''focus the resolution text more clearly on the objective that is before the council, which is to mark the end of the occupation and the restoration of full sovereignty to Iraq.''
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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/153/world/Revised_Iraq_resolution_would_:.shtml

to see the majority of coalition troops pull out as this says. however, i could see us opening up a few bases in the north, which the kurds supposedly want us to do.