Iraq to US: Stay inside after December 31st
And then get your ass out of our country:
Final Text of Iraq Pact Reveals a US Debacle
The final draft of the US-Iraq Status of Forces agreement on the US military presence represents an even more crushing defeat for the policy of the George W. Bush administration than previously thought, the final text reveals.
In the absence of an agreement approved by the Iraqi parliament, US troops in Iraq will probably be confined to their bases once the United Nations mandate expires Dec. 31.
The final draft, dated Oct. 13, not only imposes unambiguous deadlines for withdrawal of US combat troops by 2011 but makes it extremely unlikely that a US non-combat presence will be allowed to remain in Iraq for training and support purposes beyond the 2011 deadline for withdrawal of all US combat forces.
Furthermore, Shiite opposition to the pact as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty makes the prospects for passage of even this agreement by the Iraqi parliament doubtful.
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So lets see. Nearly 5000 American troops dead, hundreds of thousands Iraqis slaughtered, billions wasted. For what?
To take out Saddam and his kids?
March of 2003 will be seen in later years as the beginning of the end of America, pre-9/11. No one knows what will replace it, either here or internationally, but whatever comes, it will increasingly be done to us, not by us.
