Iraq OKs U.S. Troop Presence For Last Time
Government Will Ask U.N. To Extend Military Authorization, But Last Year For Wide Powers
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U.S. soldiers with the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry out of Ft. Lewis, Washington, traverse fields at sunrise on the way to conducting house to house searches, Dec. 3, 2007 in Mukhisa, Iraq. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
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Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said last week that his government would ask the U.N. Security Council for the last time to renew the mandate that has given the United States and its partners sweeping powers in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion.
The chief government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the Cabinet had formally approved that decision.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Philip Reeker welcomed the move.
"This is a very positive process," he said at a news conference. "Iraq is increasingly able to stand on its own but will not have to stand alone."
The Cabinet move came a week after al-Maliki's administration and the United States signed a set of principles for future cooperation between the two countries as the U.S. military begins to draw down forces.
That set the stage for negotiations between the United States and Iraq on a new security formula, including the number of troops remaining here and the legal framework under which they will operate.
That agreement is scheduled to be reached by July 31, 2008, when the Iraqi government will present it to parliament for ratification, al-Maliki. That agreement would eventually replace the present U.N. mandate regulating the presence of the U.S.-led forces in Iraq.
Sadiq al-Rikabi, an adviser to the prime minister, said the security situation in the country will require the presence of U.S. forces for the coming year. He said the request for the extension would include the same terms as last year, with the exception that it would be the final one.
The U.N. mandate regulates the U.S. presence in the country and gives it sweeping rights, including the right to detain suspects indefinitely without charge.
In other developments:
More than 25,000 Iraqis who fled to Syria have returned, the Iraqi Red Crescent said, offering an estimate of refugee returns radically lower than one given by an Iraqi government eager to highlight recent declines in violence. In a separate report Tuesday, a human rights group said Iraqis who sought refuge in Lebanon are being coerced into returning home.
The Red Crescent report, issued for the period beginning Sept. 15 and ending Nov. 30, said most of the estimated 25,000 to 28,000 refugees made the trip home in September and October, and the numbers tapered off during November. Officials in Iraq and Syria have said more than 46,000 refugees returned in October and claimed the flow has continued unabated.
Echoing concerns by U.S. and U.N. officials that many would find their homes occupied by others, the report said many of those who came from Syria - instead of returning to their own towns and neighborhoods - joined the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis displaced within their homeland.
The report said the overwhelming majority of the refugees - at least 19,000 - returned to Baghdad, which has seen a dramatic turnaround in recent months, due largely to the influx of American troops to the capital, the freeze in activities from the feared Mahdi Army Shiite militia, and the U.S. push to enlist local Sunnis to help in the fight against al Qaeda.
Refugees who are arrested face the prospect of rotting in jail indefinitely unless they agree to return to Iraq and face the dangers there.
Bill Frelick, Human Rights WatchThe Red Crescent said many of the Iraqis returned to three neighborhoods largely reclaimed from al Qaeda in Iraq's control: Amariyah, Azamiyah and Dora. But, the organization warned, many of those who returned did so at least in part because their money ran out.
"The high cost of living and rented apartments and the limited employment opportunities contributed to lack of stability of Iraqi families and increased their passion to return to their country," said the report, which drew its findings from transportation companies, and government departments and ministries.
Eager to take credit for the decline in violence, Iraq's government is airing commercials directed at the exiles in Syria, providing armored convoys of buses and paying stipends to help with relocation costs.
Most refugees fled to neighboring Syria, but some also made it to other countries, including Jordan and to Lebanon. Iraqi refugees in Lebanon without valid visas are detained indefinitely unless they agree to return home, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Tuesday.
"Iraqi refugees in Lebanon live in constant fear of arrest," Bill Frelick, refugee policy director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Refugees who are arrested face the prospect of rotting in jail indefinitely unless they agree to return to Iraq and face the dangers there."
But U.S. and U.N. officials warn Iraq lacks clear policies for the returnees, including frameworks to settle property disputes and fear violence will flare again if the Shiite-led government fails to capitalize on the security gains and make political progress.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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http://www.infowars.com/articles/sept11/cossiga_ex_italian_pres_intel_agencies_know_911_inside_job.htm
Patriot Act, Military Commissions Act = Constitution Burned?
Proposed SB 1959 = Institutionalized hatred and fear?
C''mon, babyboomers - you stopped these same tyrants before, it''s time to act once more.
Remove the traitors before 9/ I I I
Since the Iraqi government is soveriegn and has made this committment, I fail to see President Bush''s position of not wanting a deadline like Congress wants to add to the funding bill. Iraq has set the deadline and not the USA.
Only a bedweting lib could take a great song and twist it in to a leftwing political pretzel. I am profoundly disappointed.
Re: Nancy_Naive at 11:40
You drive a hard bargain.
Regards
Re: "Iraq OKs U.S. Troop Presence For Last Time"
Iraq continues to lack a government that can be seen as either legitimate or sovereign.
Hence, as the illegal war of aggression against Iraq continues into its fifth year, and the shameful carnage continues, there is still no nobody for our misleaders, or for U.N. officials, to negotiate with, on behalf of the people of Iraq.
Any move by the Iraq government to stand on its own is positive news.
Government Will Ask U.N. To Extend Military Authorization, But Last Year For Wide Powers
But sir I thought UN was/is under USA any way
May be I must be reading about UN in Africa??? Sort of failed UN in Darfur, Tsunami gives me jitters
And do these soldiers come back now or is there a veto from Mr. Bush we have to wait. No I am serious. The veto in everything from the manufacturing of the currency to appointments of the judges and e fence on the border and the health and education has got me all thinking, what exactly is veto and what this magic wand works for Mr. Bush every time senate wants to move ahead
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla MBA PhD
P.O.Box 6044
Dar-Es-Salaam
Tanzania
East Africa
Related:
Trigger-happy U.S. soldiers shoot more Iraqi civilians, while hunting down imaginary psy-ops boogie men.
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U.S. soldiers shoot 4 Iraqi civilians, one killed
Tuesday, December 4, 2007; 3:56 AM
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers mistakenly shot four Iraqi civilians, killing one, during operations against al Qaeda militants, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
Didn''t the Decider and Maliki already decide that we won''t be leaving Iraq, until we are kicked out, or until we lose interest?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjQpFAGUrQ
Re: "And the U.S. military said Tuesday it had identified an al Qaeda operative killed in a Nov. 17 raid on a reported propaganda house as Abu Maysara, a Syrian who directed the terror group''s media network."
Was the name of this alleged operative, "IntelCenter" by any chance?
TO BE DEPLOYED IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN????? MORE TROOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: "Separately, Iraqi military officials raised to 23 the number of bodies discovered in a mass grave near Lake Tharthar - a former stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq..."
Is is too much to ask from CBS Newz, for a summary of how these terrarists can be identified as members of "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq"?
Don''t we all need to develop these detection techniques, in case we spot one of them "over here" instead of "over there"?
Posted by hillaryin08 at 03:30 PM : Dec 04, 2007
Maybe looking for OBL?
Maybe he''s ready to start looking for him in Pakistan?
watch CHenny pushing a little kid of his way causing him fall.. caught and posted on youtub
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjQpFAGUrQ
Of course, US government support for this is consistent with the US government''s disregard for the rule of law anywhere.
Our government has returned to tribal practices of priviledge that were common in Germanic cultures as opposed to the rule of law which was common in Roman cultures.
Completely typical of the circumstance of Holy war in which the US and European Christian cultures who control the UN are engaged.
Too bad.
Nothing good will come of this.
97% OF ALL ATHIEST WASH FACE WITH GOAT URINE
94% OF ALL ATHIEST USE DOG S H I T IN HOT DOG BUNS
97% OF ALL ATHIEST BAKE PIE THAT IS FILLED WITH THEIR OWN S H I T
100% ATHIEST DO NOT BELIEVE IN REGULAR GOD BUT THEY SECRETLY WORSHIP SNAKE S H I T MIXED WITH PIG DROPLINGS !!!
CHECK IT OUT IN YOUTUBE ......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjQpFAGUrQ
-After that, US-forces are to stay there permanently. LOL!
what allies?
With that investment we could have easily saved Social Security. If your happy with that and want more of the same vote for Hillary, Rudy, Mitt, Mike or Fred.
If you want real change for the better vote for Congressman Ron Paul for president in 2008.
Ron Paul has a very clear message: Let''s hold our government accountable, stop the free spending habits of both parties and bring our troops home & out of harm''s way as quick as we possibly can.
Under sound leadership this country will be back on the course of freedom, liberty & prosperity for all out citizens. America will once again be the land of the free & home of the brave where the true patriots are those who question the government not those who blindly follow.
www.RonPaul4all.com
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Posted by denn034 at 04:31 PM : Dec 04, 2007
+ report abuse
Hey you brain dead bootlicker, where do you think we are IF the American People do not turn to the Democrats in the last election? I''ll tell you where... We''re listening to your Fuhrer LIE to us EVERY single day about the situation in Iraq while Rummy tells us our troop levels are just fine. PLEASE stop trying to insult everyone''s intelligence here. The AMERICAN PEOPLE wanted the war in Iraq stopped so they ELECTED the Democrats NOT the other way around. ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush!! You aren''t the sharpest tool in the old shed there are you sparky??? ROFLMAO
97% OF ALL ATHIEST WASH FACE WITH GOAT URINE
94% OF ALL ATHIEST USE DOG S H I T IN HOT DOG BUNS
97% OF ALL ATHIEST BAKE PIE THAT IS FILLED WITH THEIR OWN S H I T
100% ATHIEST DO NOT BELIEVE IN REGULAR GOD BUT THEY SECRETLY WORSHIP SNAKE S H I T MIXED WITH PIG DROPLINGS !!!
CHECK IT OUT IN YOUTUBE ......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=YYjQpFAGUrQ
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Posted by IamPundit at 04:04 PM : Dec 04, 2007
+ report abuse
Can I ask you what people''s religion has to do with this? This is AMERICAN Policy we''re discussing... you know YOUR neighbors son''s and daughters who are DYING because of a Pack of LIES!! Get a life and start pulling you wait you pathetic loser!! sieg Heil Bush
Was the name of this alleged operative, "IntelCenter" by any chance?
Posted by FeelFree1 at 03:21 PM : Dec 04, 2007
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Good one, FeelFree1! Very apt...
Posted by denn034 at 04:31 PM : Dec 04, 2007
It''s not under attack at all. We''re just refusing and putting our foot down. You want an occupation of Iraq...pick up your gun and head out over there...have at it!
The only thing we can do now is not fund them!
This is shades of Marcos, Shah, Noriega and Saddam (ergo our propped up puppet regime) all over again. Same ol'', same ol...America seems to never learn.
Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 07:31 PM : Dec 04, 2007
Does anyone remember that Congress passed a bill in the summer of 2006 mandating that we NOT set up permanent bases in Iraq? What happened to that?
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by prinzowhales
December 5, 2007 11:19 PM PST
- ToolMangler--It isn''t Israel''s God they fear, its the nukes that Israel has and 400 pound gorrilla sporting the red, white and blue behind that "sh*tty little state" that helped arm her and continues to subsidize her that the world fears and detests. Israel has deserted her God...the rabbins read the words...turn the pages...but the Spirit has departed...it is too bad they can not conjure up a leader as great as the Hezikiah conjured up by the priests and scribes of long ago....
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