Iraq wants U.S. troops gone by end of 2011

[unhappycamper]

Iraq wants U.S. troops gone by end of 2011
By Robert H. Reid - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Oct 31, 2008 6:15:51 EDT

BAGHDAD — Iraq wants to eliminate any chance U.S. forces will stay here after 2011 under a proposed security pact and to expand Iraqi legal jurisdiction over U.S. troops until then, a close ally of the prime minister said Thursday.

Those demands, which were presented to U.S. officials this week, could derail the deal — delivering a diplomatic blow to Washington in the final weeks of the Bush administration.

Failure to reach an agreement before year’s end could force a suspension of American military operations, and U.S. commanders have been warning Iraqi officials that could endanger security improvements.

The current draft, hammered out in months of tortuous negotiations, would have U.S. soldiers leave Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011, unless the two governments agreed to an extension for training and supporting Iraqi security forces.

But Ali al-Adeeb, a member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s inner circle, said the government wants that possibility excluded by language adding finality to the end of 2011 date.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/ap_iraqwithdrawal_103008/%2e