Though Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi promised Vice President Joe Biden that he would be “flexible” in dealing with the nation’s long-delayed election law, he insists that so far he hasn’t seen any tangible recommendations for addressing his concerns.

Biden has been vigorously pressing assorted Iraqi officials to agree on an election law, which would be necessary to allow the vote to be held in a timely fashion. Biden reportedly assured that the US didn’t intend to meddle in internal affairs.

However with the Iraqi constitutional requirement to hold the election in January already practically impossible, the continual delays in finalizing the election law are increasingly imperiling the American drawdown strategy.

It is now expected that the vote could be held no sooner than mid-February, though with what seems an increasingly likely veto from Hashemi and political wrangling to try to override that veto on the horizon, even that date seems optimistic.

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