Iraq says U.S. pact needs change

I thought the draft agreement was good. However, if it comes to removing the government's authority to ask US troops to remain in Iraq after 2011, I don't think the US should raise any objection to that. If popular will is for the US to remain, the Iraqis can always pass enabling legislation. If that is not the popular will, chances are that something is wrong that we cannot fix.

I think the Iraqis want to know who the next president will be before they sign any agreement. < :-)

But, but, but I thought McCain wanted to stay and fight and Obama wanted to cut and run!

The concept that the Iraqis have a say in determining our time in Iraq will strain some minds too much, so they will just ignore it and go back to their partisan crazy accusations. --Cirroc

American and Iraqi don't really like/respect each other after these sad years even the US have spended some stupid 1 trillion us$ so it's quite natural they don't like you to stay their home especially when he want to reconstruct their home. People's feeling can't be easy to change no matter who elected new president.

I suspect some people are avoiding this thread. Its fun to make a list in my head. --Cirroc

Caveman: No kidding. It IS better to keep the list in your head. You say it on here and it gets erased! haha.

Anyway, if the Iraqi people want the US out and/or to amend it's conditions on staying longer, they have the right to say so. I mean... if you really believe it's a democracy and sovereign nation.

Time to trade horses (or camels). The Iraqi government, I use the term sparingly, are probably very much attune to what is happening in Washington. With Curious George headed back to TEXAS, the Iraqis probably realize that everything is potentially back in play.

Lets do this the logical way....... Pull out ALL of our troops and let them either sink or swim, but we can't babysit them forever. Oh, there will be great unrest, but we should worry about our own country; bring our military back home and protect our country just like they "should."

Pull out all the troops? That would be cut and run. Vietnamization with an arab twist. And you think allies would trust Uncle Sam? I don't think so. Putting aside arguments regarding the US getting involved in Iraq in the first place, the fact is your there. And your troops are going to have to continue to stay there for a long, long time. Why? Your Iraq allies are about as stable as a 1-legged man on a steep hill. They are all ex-exiles who did the Ben Johnson when Saddam was still in power. These people are like Karzai in Afghanistan, they have little or no real power or legitimacy among the common folk.

Of course, the victims in all this are both the Iraqi civilians (who get killed right, left and center as radicals try and target US troops. The US troops as well are victims of circumstance. A year's training in conventional warefare back in the states does not prepare you for the guerilla war being fought in Iraq. Being ordered to stand on street corners (and act as targets) is not what the US military is designed to do. As a former infantry officer, I really feel sorry for the grunts who have to police the country.

timorborder - Vietnamization with an arab twist.

I don't think so. We pulled out of Vietnam and left all our equipment and ran with our tails tucked between our legs when we left.

We've done a hell of a job these past couple of years. There have been achievements and steps to get their democracy in order.

Now take charge. We've done all the damage that we can do, so you need to fix yourself, and we'll help you without a military footprint in country.

We're going to pull out in an orderly manner and take our equipment out with us, I would hope. < :-)

And your troops are going to have to continue to stay there for a long, long time.

Unless Iraqis choose to exercise their democratic powers and kindly ask the American Troops to leave. God forbib they actually be able to choose the course of thier own futures, apparently they are too weak and need someone to dictate, a dictator I guess you could say, how things are going to happen in their own Country.