Iraqi Officials Say Plan is Close for U.S. Troops to Leave by October 2010

 Anonymous Iraqi officials claim they are close to sealing a deal with the U.S. to set a time for troops to withdrawal from Iraq:

BAGHDAD — Iraq and the U.S. are near an agreement on all American combat troops leaving Iraq by October 2010, with the last soldiers out three years after that, two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. U.S. officials, however, insisted no dates had been agreed.

Both Iraqi and American officials agreed that the deal is not final and that a major unresolved issue is the U.S. demand for immunity for U.S. soldiers from prosecution under Iraqi law.

The bottom line is that the U.S. won’t agree to a fixed date, as commander GEN David Petraeus reiterates, unless we have no choice because a conditions based withdrawal is the most responsible one.

Be that as it may, if an agreement is reached and the sovereign government of Iraq insists on a withdrawal date, the Bush administration can (and should) take credit for starting and ending the war within his administration. There’s nothing Barack Obama can do about that and he’ll have nothing to do with the success of the war in any capacity, including withdrawal.

It’s a win/win.

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Comments

[Brian H]

I worry that this Iraqi government, with its justifiable fear of being turfed at the next polls, is posturing and will write unworkable terms into the agreement. However, if McCain wins, the next government will be able to be more sensible.

[Amy Proctor]

Agreed, Brian.

Also, Dems offended Maliki and his government last year when they kept saying what a failure he was and called for his resignation.