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mcclatchydc.com - 11/20/2008
Why the U.S. blinked on its troop agreement with Iraq
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WASHINGTON — Although the Pentagon officially has welcomed the new accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, senior military officials are privately criticizing President Bush for giving Iraq more control over U.S. military operations for the next three years than the U.S. had ever ...

Blog Reactions

Firedoglake:  Early Morning Swim

Think Progress:  Iraqi version of SOFA called a ‘withdrawal accord.’

Newshoggers.com:  Did the Bush Administration blink when negotiating the Iraq SOFA?

DownWithTyranny!:  I Sure Hope Obama Doesn't Give Up On Hope

online.wsj.com - 11/20/2008
Pentagon Wary of Fast Iraq Withdrawal
— online.wsj.com — WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama is facing an early confrontation with the Pentagon over the hot-button issue of how fast to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, with some senior officers arguing for a slower drawdown. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman ... (more) Pentagon Wary of Fast Iraq Withdrawal

Comments vote down TomDispatch found this 11/20/2008found this
washingtonpost.com - 11/20/2008
Mullen: U.S. Would Need More Than 2 Years for Iraq Withdrawal
— washingtonpost.com — Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, November 17, 2008; 4:43 PM The U.S. military would require two to three years to remove its roughly 150,000 troops and equipment from Iraq safely, and the timing of that withdrawal should be based on security ... (more) Mullen: U.S. Would Need More Than 2 Years for Iraq ...

Comments vote down TomDispatch found this 11/20/2008found this
Iraq | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team
change.gov - 11/19/2008
Iraq | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team
— change.gov — The Obama-Biden Plan Barack Obama and Joe Biden will responsibly end the war in Iraq so that we can renew our military strength, dedicate more resources to the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and invest in our economy at home. ... (more) Iraq | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team

Comments vote down Mudville Gazette found this 11/19/2008found this
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Blog Reactions

Early Morning Swim
Firedoglake — ... Napolitano will be Obama's head of homeland security. Daschle in at HHS. The Bush recession is so awesome. Kaleefornia Supreme Court to review Prop. 8 challenge. MN Senate recount begins. Early voting in the Chambliss-Martin runoff has begun. DL Hughley punks Bay Buchanan. Why BushCo blinked on agreement with Iraq.

Iraqi version of SOFA called a ‘withdrawal accord.’
Think Progress — ... but an agreement to withdraw the troops and organize their activities during the period of their presence in Iraq,” Maliki said. Now that an agreement has been reached, which includes a mandate for all U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, Maliki’s terminology has been made official: ...

Did the Bush Administration blink when negotiating the Iraq SOFA?
Newshoggers.com — ... So, how did the U.S. get so snookered?  McClatchy has an article today claiming political timetables played a role in the Bush Administration's willingness to settle for what many are calling a bad deal. ...

I Sure Hope Obama Doesn't Give Up On Hope
DownWithTyranny! — ... Everything is screwed up, every single thing-- from the economy (have you heard the Asshole-in-Chief say the basics are solid lately?-- to the wars of choice he started and handled so ineptly to the most basic precepts that have bound the nation together. Can you think of anything that is going right that Bush has had anything to do with? I can't. ...

Baghdad Burns Bush In Effigy-- When Will Detroit Follow Suit?
DownWithTyranny! — ... For Bush-- despite what the consequences, both globally and domestically, have brought in its wake-- the mission really was accomplished. Iraq is in ruins. Once the most advanced society in the Middle East, it is now a smoldering wreck. George Bush showed them. When the puppet government's cabinet presented the parliament with an agreement extending the occupation of their country by U.S. troops-- even though the agreement is far from acceptable to the professional U.S. military or to people with genuine concern about security, ...

17 Reasons To Give Thanks
Think Progress — ... thankful we live in a center-left America rather than “Hannity’s America.” We’re thankful John McCain has more time to spend in the houses he owns…even if he can’t remember them all. We’re thankful Sarah Palin has more time to watch over Russia and warn us in case Vladimir Putin ever “rears his head.” We’re thankful that we’re moving closer towards a complete withdrawal from Iraq. We’re thankful for the thousands of ...

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Today in The Nation: Obama and Iraq
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Lawmaker accuses Bush of secrecy over Iraq deal — Reuters: Politics 11/19/2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is refusing to make public the security pact it has signed with Iraq, even though it has already been published in full in an Iraqi newspaper, a congressional hearing was told on Wednesday.
Iraq timeline good for U.S. troops, Pentagon says — CNN.com - Politics 11/20/2008
A security pact between the U.S. and Iraqi governments will allow U.S. troops to finish the work it needs to do before leaving the country, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.
Panel: China has accelerated computer espionage (AP) — Yahoo! News: Politics News 11/20/2008
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