The elected Prime Minister of Iraq has said that he wants all American troops out of his country by the end of 2011:
BAGHDAD, Aug. 25 — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki demanded a complete U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq by 2011 as he embarked Monday on an attempt to win support among Iraqi leaders for a draft security accord with the United States.
Maliki’s comments appeared to be an attempt to extract further concessions from American officials, less than a week after both sides said they had agreed to remove all U.S. combat troops by the end of 2011, if the security situation remained relatively stable, but leave other American forces in place. The U.S. plan is to leave as many as 40,000 troops to continue to assist Iraq in training, logistics and intelligence for an undefined period.
Speaking before a gathering of tribal leaders in the heavily fortified Green Zone, Maliki said for the first time that the United States had agreed to withdraw all troops — not just combat brigades — as part of a security accord governing U.S. forces in Iraq, and that the withdrawal schedule must be firm. But American officials said no accord had been reached and insisted that any withdrawal be based on conditions at the time.
“There is an agreement between both sides that no foreign soldiers will be in Iraq after 2011,” Maliki said. He added that the accord “must be based on a specific deadline for the withdrawal of foreign forces and that it should not be open.”
That, it would seem is the end of that. If the Iraqi Government wants us out, completely, within three years, then it would seem that there really isn’t any further need for debate.
The Iraq War is over. We’re just negotiating the withdrawal at this point.
