Right here:
U.S. and Iraqi negotiators reached agreement on a security deal that calls for American military forces to leave Iraq’s cities by next summer as a prelude to a full withdrawal of combat troops from the country, according to senior American officials.
The draft agreement sets 2011 as the goal date by which U.S. combat troops will leave Iraq, according to Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Haj Humood and other people familiar with the matter. In the meantime, American troops will be leaving cities, towns and other population centers by the summer of 2009, living in bases outside of those areas, according to the draft.
Teams of American and Iraqi negotiators spent months haggling over the deal, which represents a remarkable turnaround from just a few months ago, when talk of timetables and deadlines was routinely dismissed by the Bush administration and other Republicans in Washington.
This is good news, because we need the troops in our glorious struggle against the Russian bear over our oldest and most staunchest ally ever, Georgia.
DannyNoonan
Wait a second. If we agree to leave Iraq that means we can’t leave with victory AND we can’t bring back the draft. No way Big Daddy McCain is going for this.
Punchy
Nice. ANYONE ELSE does this, and it’s “flip-flop”. Not here, kids. It’s a “turnaround”.
I thought timelines emboldened the terrorists. So, aren’t we terrorist-emboldeners, then? Can someone explain this?
Zifnab
I don’t think anyone actually wants to bring back the draft, except as a tool they can use to hammer on the opposing party. The draft was one of those political ideas – like Prohibition – that was about ten types of fail. Much easier to just shoe horn military recruiters into every low income school in America and stop-loss recruits till their 60.
That’s how we do things here in ‘Murika.
PC
This is good news for McCain.
horatius
You forgot about Iran and Syria, and of course those commies in Cuba and Venezuela, and there there’s China. We have a bunch of quests on our plate. Life is just a WoW battleground for McBush.
4tehlulz
Obviously, Bush has decided to cede this important front in the War on Terror to al Qaeda to open another, even more important front in the War on Terror, (location TBD).
nightjar
Personally, I’m hoping they’ll start something with Venezuela. It’s way closer with likely better TV reception. Not to mention hotter in-country babes.
montysano
Let’s not forget the dire threat to vowel-loving Georgia by the swarthy and consonant-laden terrorists of Abkhazia. I’m thinking that a no-bid, open-ended contract with Bechtel should take care of this problem rather nicely.
jake
Since the troops won’t be back before Bush hits the road, he’ll just keep the $20 million set aside for the Victory Par-tay.
Of course, as has been noted for the past five years, things get a bit quiet in the summer. (Today’s forecast, 112 with smoke.) We’ll see how he feels about it in November.
heynonny
Are we sure that Georgie doesn’t think that the Russians invaded Atlanta? I mean, he can’t be expected to pay attention to these things, what with Olympians to ogle and all.
rachel
Huh. Well, politics and campaigning is everything for these guys. If Obama wins the election, he’d pull the troops out, anyway. Bush doing this will steal that bit of thunder; make it less likely that the people who only care about leaving Iraq will vote for him. And if McCain wins… Well, the situation in Iraq can always change later.
This is Charlie Brown and Lucy’s football all over again.
TenguPhule
The Iraqi guerillas don’t give a shit about what Bushwanker wants. Once the summer heat ends….
Tsulagi
Yeah, this “remarkable turnaround” started just about the beginning of June. Until that time, Commander Guy was sure he was going to have a Status of Forces Agreement in place when the UN mandate expires at the end of the year. A SOFA providing for 50+ permanent bases, US control of Iraqi airspace, and more.
And of course Bush was saying he didn’t need no stinking Congressional approval for a treaty. Dems objected, and began cutting down trees for upcoming sternly worded letters. Maliki was on board too saying he also didn’t need approval from his parliament.
But then in June Maliki was summoned to Tehran by Khamenei. He didn’t like that proposed agreement and told Maliki it didn’t meet with his approval. But no worries, by the end of his visit everyone was all smiles as in these photos. Reaffirmed buddies with Maliki, Ahmadinejad, their respective defense ministers and generals signing protocols for future mutual defense cooperation. By end of June even His Bushiness was acknowledging we might not have a SOFA before he leaves office.
Escrow on the house we paid for closed some time ago and a waiting Iran wants the keys. Mission Accomplished.
Nation building Bush Republicans taking stupid to frontiers never before imagined.