
Iraq Repeats Insistence On Fixed Withdrawal Date
(Washington Post, November 7, 2008, Pg. 1)
Two days after the election of Barack Obama, Iraq’s chief spokesman said with unusual forcefulness that his government will continue to insist on a firm withdrawal date for U.S. troops, despite American demands that any pullout be subject to prevailing security conditions. Iraqi officials, who see President-elect Obama’s views on the timing of a U.S. withdrawal as consonant with their own, appear to be leveraging his election to pressure the Bush administration to make last-minute concessions. The spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said negotiations to reach a status-of-forces agreement, which would sanction the U.S. military presence in Iraq beyond 2008, would collapse if no deal is reached by the end of this month.
Easy solution. Pull out now!



