Us Iraq Pull-Out 'To Proceed As Scheduled': Maliki (will not be any permanent US bases)

[Purveyor]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said US forces will leave Iraq as scheduled by year's end, and that there will not be any permanent US bases in the country, a statement from his office said on Tuesday.

"The agreement on the withdrawal of American forces will be implemented on schedule by the end of the year, and there will not be any bases for US forces here," Maliki told Al-Ittijah TV channel in an interview to be broadcast later, it said.

Iraqi leaders have approved negotiations with the United States on a post-2011 training mission, but no deal has yet been announced.

However, an extension of the US military presence in Iraq has been strongly opposed by some, notably by radical anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr who has warned of "war" if American forces stay.

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Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/us-iraq-pull-proceed-scheduled-maliki-152644581.html;_ylt=AlAjmYiNH.oD4weNwt.3NEILewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTM1ZjV0MDVxBHBrZwNiNTQxODFjNy1mMGJlLTMzYjktYThlOC03ZWQ3OTUzZGMyNGIEcG9zAzUEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDMjA4MTkzNzAtZDMxZC0xMWUwLWJjZmYt

[sakabatou]

1. We'll wait and see if this goes through

[Arctic Dave]

2. Always have to put the adjective "radical" in there. Eyeroll

Refusing to submit to foriegn occupation is not, nor has it ever been, radical.

[Scurrilous]

3. Great news!

K & R :thumbsup:

[TheWraith]

4. No shit. But I'm sure there are people here who "know better."

After all, what the US and the Iraqis have been saying for months has no weight in the face of an anonymous, unsourced article in a third-rate foreign newspaper saying we're going to be staying forever. :sarcasm:

[BeFree]

6. uhmmmm

Our very own Sec. of Defense is not "...an anonymous, unsourced article in a third-rate foreign newspaper saying we're going to be staying forever." Neither is the leader of the repuglycans, McCain.

Which pretty much destroys your argument, yes?

Cheers to Maliki, he's gonna set America free!!

[TheWraith]

7. "We would consider leaving troops if they asked us" is not the same as "We're leaving troops."

Some people here don't understand the definition of "noncommittal."

[BeFree]

8. Heh

We invaded their country. That's a pretty big committal. We are there to stay and we are trying to convince their leader that our troops should stay there forever. Like in Germany, et al.

I hope Maliki wins and Iraq is free again! Don't you?

[bemildred]

5. Maliki knows how to stall too.

"Iraqi leaders have approved negotiations with the United States on a post-2011 training mission, but no deal has yet been announced."

[Lasher]

10. That part jumped out at me too.

His deceitful rhetoric matches Panetta's: We're getting out but we're not. “We have begun the drawdown, and we will continue the drawdown and we will fulfill the commitment that we are going to take all the combat forces out of Iraq,” Panetta recently said.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61731.html#ixzz1WXB4RRU0

It will be one year ago tomorrow that we got all of our combat forces out of Iraq, remember? But Panetta says we're getting them out again. Did some or all of today's 46,000 remaining troops morph from 'noncombat soldiers' back into combat forces? Did some US combat troops sneak back into Iraq when nobody was watching? And how many will stay on forever on this noncombat 'training mission'?

[No Elephants]

9. We've been training Iraqis since we invaded. They could have been graduated from West Point twice

by now.

[dipsydoodle]

11. So presumably the Green Zone will be used for pop concerts

:shrug:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kiYAIM4N_A

[ixion]

12. So that 'super base' we spent billions building we're going to walk away from?

You'll pardon me if I'm skeptical.

[Lasher]

13. There are four US super bases in Iraq.

I share your skepticism.