Though on many occasions the Iraqi government has appeared to be on the verge of grudgingly acquiescing to the repeated demands, so far they have not approved of keeping US troops in Iraq beyond December.
But the US demands keep coming and once again the call for a quick move toward a new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) has come, this time from the Pentagon. The current SOFA was approved by the Iraqi parliament, grudgingly, in late 2008.
And therein lies the rub, as the US has been pressing for a new SOFA, with a new round of blanket immunities for US troops operating in the area. But getting parliamentary approval looks extremely difficult.
This has many Iraqi officials looking to sell an extension as “trainers only” so that no vote would be needed. Prime Minister Maliki only managed to get the last vote approved by promising a referendum which never came, and there seems to be overwhelming opposition to continuing the US presence. Still, the demands come with an assumption that Iraq will eventually give in.
Only if those "trainers" have to give up their weapons and their fire support would the Iraqi Parliament pass another SOFA…
The only thing worse, for a nation or an individual, than incurring the amimus of others is to become tiresome. You can try to eliminate animus but once you become truly tiresome, all people want to see is the screen door slapping your backside on your way out.
It's time to change the headlines on this never-ending story. No more "Iraq still deciding on whether to ask US to stay on in Iraq" to "US exerts ruthless pressure to secure permanent bases in Iraq".
To which you could add, "the US government made clear it's intention to keep troops in Iraq permanently, and is doing all it can to exert maximum pressure on Iraq's political structure to extract an agreement that would allow troops to stay."
It's time to call it like it is. Iraq decided years ago. It's getting the US to leave that is the hard part.
Great post!
Americans appetit is not ended even to kill Irakis after the agreement and the americans wants to station these killers in Irak although they have already killed one million Irakis as my friend an Iraki told me that in Irak are either old persons or children as the youths have been slaughtered by american amrmy and black water.
American: So have you made a decision about the sofa?
Iraqi: Yeah, I think we're gonna get rid of it…
***5 minutes later***
American: Yeah, umm have you made a decision about the sofa yet?
Iraqi: Yeah, I think we're gonna get rid of it…
***5 minutes later***
American: We're really gonna need you to make a decision about the sofa soon.
Iraqi: Yeah, I think we're gonna get rid of it…
At some point arm twisting is going to occur…