Iraqi PM says his security forces ready

[Turborama]

Source: AP

By KIM GAMEL – 1 hour ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister said Saturday that the country's security forces have been tested and have shown they are ready to take over from the Americans. Nouri al-Maliki also said President Barack Obama agreed in a phone call Friday about the need to provide Iraq with more military equipment and weapons to fight insurgents and foreign threats.

Obama declared Friday that he will end combat operations within 18 months but leave as many as 50,000 troops behind for an additional year and half of support and counterterrorism missions. He pledged to withdraw all U.S. forces by the end of 2011, in line with a security agreement that took effect Jan. 1.

Al-Maliki said the U.S. mission in Iraq "will change completely" by the end of August 2010 and the Iraqis would be prepared. "Iraqi security and military systems have proven, through tests, their abilities and capacities in establishing security across the provinces, which qualifies them to take over full security responsibilities from the American forces," al-Maliki said in a statement issued by his office.

Iraqi lawmakers offered a mixed response.

Some followers of anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were upset that as many as 50,000 U.S. troops would remain in Iraq. "This matter will be a dangerous as the occupation and control of the Iraqi soil and skies and sovereignty will remain," Sadrist lawmaker Nasser al-Issawi told AP Television News. "We believe the withdrawal must come as a purely Iraqi decision and not be given by the White House as charity," he added. "They have to withdraw immediately to achieve full sovereignty and this is the will of the Iraqi people who are fully aware and capable of taking over."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD96KH2O80

[No Elephants]

1. How many times did Bush use as an excuse "Iraq is a sovereign nation?" Can we really

have it both ways? Is it a sovereign nation only when we don't want to take responsiblity for something and not a sovereign nation when it comes to "hosting" our troops against its will?

[ohio2007]

2. End to Baghdad's 'dark era': Nightclubs reopen ( security moonlighting )

If they can keep the fundies from blowing up the nightclubs, maybe there is hope and change for them all.

Bars in Abu Nawas Street are popular again — even with U.S. troops

BAGHDAD - The American soldier stepped out of the Baghdad nightclub. In one hand, he clutched his weapon. In the other, a green can of Tuborg beer. He took a sip and walked over to two comrades, dressed as he was in camouflage and combat gear.

....

A singer crooned soulfully through scratchy speakers to the raucous, pulsating beat — an action that Islamic extremists have deemed punishable by beheading.

Twenty minutes later, several drunk men coaxed an American soldier to dance. He awkwardly shuffled his feet, wearing night-vision equipment and a radio, joining the women and boisterous young men in an Arabic chain dance around tables covered with empty beer bottles.


.....

The soldiers on Abu Nawas Street said they were visiting the club to talk to the manager about security, but they were socializing publicly with Iraqis in a way that was unimaginable even a few months ago. The scene reflected the increasing sense of security in the capital and many parts of Iraq, but it was impossible to know how many U.S. soldiers in Baghdad have the opportunity or the inclination to drink a beer while on patrol, apparently in violation of rules banning alcohol consumption in combat zones.

'They buy drinks and pay for them'
A U.S. military spokesman, responding to a query about the soldiers, was incredulous. "Just so I understand this clearly, you saw U.S. soldiers at a nightclub in downtown Baghdad outside of the Green Zone in uniform drinking and dancing?" asked Tech. Sgt. Chris Stagner.



snip



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29439989

maybe the GI's stumbled on Baghdads 'Little Subic Bay'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCodn3YMicw&feature=related




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2iqsFg05q4&feature=related