"This is a sovereign nation... If they were to say, leave, we would leave."

Q Thank you, Mr. President. You say you want nothing short of victory, that leaving Iraq would be catastrophic; you once again mentioned al Qaeda. Does that mean that you are willing to leave American troops there, no matter what the Iraqi government does? I know this is a question we've asked before, but you can begin it with a "yes" or "no."

THE PRESIDENT: We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This is a sovereign nation. Twelve million people went to the polls to approve a constitution. It's their government's choice. If they were to say, leave, we would leave.

<From yesterday's press conference.>

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070524.html


"From here, I specifically mention the Sunni brothers. It is the occupier who came between us and divided us from them to weaken the Iraqi people....I am doing this for God and the good of the Iraqi people and for Iraq, to liberate it and free it and regain its complete sovereignty that we are still deprived of."

<From yesterday's sermon of Maqti al-Sadr before a crowd of 6,000 upon his return to Iraq after four months in Iran>

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/25/iraq.main/index.html





(Iraqi Shiites ripping US flag at a demonstration in April 06 at which 1 million showed up to demand an end to the occupation.)

THE PRESIDENT: We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This is a sovereign nation. Twelve million people went to the polls to approve a constitution. It's their government's choice. If they were to say, leave, we would leave.



what a sick SOB!! and what a liar, the Iraqis want us to leave.

And the American media are doing a lousy job of keeping Americans informed about how the Iraqis really feel about our being there.

:patriot:

Czechoslovakia to invade them?

In any case, given that the polls show most Iraqis don't want us there any more than most Americans do, it's certainly a clear case of our imparting upon these benighted people our "democracy".

You didn't know that????:eyes:

I think they might want to rescind that "invitation" george, you IDIOT! Oh and BTW, I bet george still doesn't know what the definition of "sovereign" is, do ya george? :evilgrin:

It must be tbe puppet government that asks us to leave.

Which is not at all.

He'll stay in Iraq even if their leaders show up at the White House door on their hands and knees begging him to leave.

THE PRESIDENT: We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This is a sovereign nation. Twelve million people went to the polls to approve a constitution. It's their government's choice. If they were to say, leave, we would leave.

Q -- catastrophic, as you've said over and over again?

THE PRESIDENT: I would hope that they would recognize that the results would be catastrophic. This is a sovereign nation, Martha. We are there at their request. And hopefully the Iraqi government would be wise enough to recognize that without coalition troops, the U.S. troops, that they would endanger their very existence. And it's why we work very closely with them, to make sure that the realities are such that they wouldn't make that request -- but if they were to make the request, we wouldn't be there.


* lets things slip- they 'sound' like they are accidental- sometimes almost too stupid to be taken seriously- but i believe if we listen closely- we can hear his own 'truth' in the garbled message-

'WE' are working very closely with (the Iraqi's) to make SURE the realities are such that they wouldn't ask us to leave!!- Why? wouldn't we work closely with them to get them set up so we COULD leave??? At least if our goals were genuine????

:tinfoilhat:

:toast:

You're right. He is revealing his "thoughts," such as they are. He has no intention of leaving Iraq on his watch. He is determined to make Iraq someone else's problem.

they already did ask it is just that bush, congress and the US military has ignored them....

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070511/1/48gvs.html

Iraqi MPs are gathering votes to force their government to set a deadline for US forces to withdraw from the country and think they have a majority, a leading Shiite politician said on Friday.

Baha al-Aaraji, a supporter of radical anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, told AFP that 144 members of the 275-seat national assembly had signed a draft law that would set a departure timetable for US troops.

However, other legislators said the bill would probably be watered down before becoming a non-binding petition, and that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would martial enough support to renew the US mandate next month.

"The signatures have been submitted to the speaker of parliament and, after that, a committee chaired by me was formed," Aaraji said.

Aaraji's committee has asked Iraq's defence, interior and national security ministries to suggest a date by which their forces will be ready to take charge of security operations currently overseen by US forces.

<snip>

"A majority of parliamentarians want this objective timetable agreed upon between Iraqis and Americans," he said.