BAGHDAD, Dec. 4, 2008
It's Official: U.S. Timetable In Iraq OK'd
Iraq's Presidential Council Signs Off On Security Pact Giving U.S. 3 Years To Leave
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(CBS/AP)
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Blog World Watch Extra reporting from CBS foreign desks across the globe.
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
As the final legal hurdle to the deal was cleared, American soldiers and Iraqi civilians alike faced another round of deadly bombings by insurgents trying to chip away at recent security gains.
Two suicide bombers in explosives-laden trucks took aim at police stations in the former Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on Thursday, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 100, Iraqi officials said.
A suicide car bomber also killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded nine Iraqi civilians near a checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said.
Iraq's parliament signed off on the deal last week following months of tough talks between U.S. and Iraqi negotiators that at times seemed on the point of collapse. The entire process has been fraught with hardscrabble dealmaking between ethnic and sectarian groups.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama called Iraq's prime minister and stressed his commitment to a responsible withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, the government said. During Wednesday's call, Mr. Obama thanked Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Iraqi government for its efforts in gaining
parliament's approval.
In Washington, the White House also welcomed Thursday's decision.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said the Iraqi presidential council's approval Thursday sets a path for American troops to come home and called the agreement a "remarkable achievement for both of our countries."
Under the deal, which goes into effect Jan. 1, U.S. forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30 and the entire country by Jan. 1, 2012. But the agreement includes the caveat that it should go before voters in a referendum by the end of July - when the deal will already be in effect.
That was a concession to Sunni demands and means the agreement could be rejected next year if, for example, anti-U.S. anger builds and demands for an immediate withdrawal grow. By that time, however, American troops will likely have left urban areas and will be a less intrusive presence.
President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and his two deputies Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, and Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, signed the accord at their headquarters in Baghdad, council spokesman Nasser al-Ani told The Associated Press.
Iraq also will gain strict oversight over the nearly 150,000 American troops now on the ground, representing a step toward full sovereignty for Iraq and a shift from the sense of frustration and humiliation that many Iraqis feel at the presence of American troops on their soil for so many years.
Followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr opposed the measure, demanding an immediate withdrawal, and the Shiite leader has called for peaceful protests against the continued presence of American forces in Iraq.
In other developments:
The U.S. military has warned that the security gains of the past year remain fragile.
In Fallujah, the apparently coordinated blasts struck within minutes of each other outside the concrete barriers surrounding two police stations in different sections of Fallujah.
An al Qaeda front group, the Islamic State of Iraq, purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on a Web site used by militants.
A senior Iraqi police officer in Fallujah said one of the blasts leveled a police station and damaged several nearby houses. A police station in central Fallujah was also struck, he said.
"I was drinking tea in my house when a big explosion took place. It was like an earthquake," said Saad Ibrahim, a 34-year-old mechanic who lives near one of the police stations. "I could hear the cry of a child trapped in a house ... we tried to help him, but the police and firefighters arrived and asked us to leave the area."
Police and hospital officials gave the casualty toll on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.
The U.S. military said initial reports showed that 13 people were wounded, including nine Iraqi policemen, when two car bombs exploded in Fallujah. Conflicting casualty tolls are common in the chaotic aftermath of such attacks.
Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, is in Anbar province and saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war before local Sunni tribal leaders joined forces with the Americans against al Qaeda in Iraq.
The city, which is largely sealed off by checkpoints, has been relatively peaceful in recent months but attacks have continued.
Northeast of Baghdad, a bomb left on a parked motorcycle exploded near a restaurant in Baqouba, killing three people, according to police at the security headquarters for the surrounding Diyala province.
In a separate development, an unmanned U.S. surveillance plane crashed on the runway at the Balad Air Base, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Baghdad, according to a statement by the U.S. Air Force.
It said the MQ-1 Predator assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing crashed about 7:30 a.m. Thursday, but the extent of the damage was unknown.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 53 Comments
- Withdrawing troops from Iraq could be a good tactic in the war on terror, but it would not be the end. Obama will have to find a way to keep the jihadis on their heels. Let the UN handle Iraq and attack in Pakistan? Maybe a deal could be worked out with Indian and Pakistani governments to purge the jihadists out of their strongholds.
- Reply to this comment
- Bush''s legacy -- raising his self identified "white flag of surrender" by negotiating a fixed timeline for withdrawal with Iraq.
- Reply to this comment
- Jraff766 wrote:
That country will be better when all the sunnis are in charge they know how to control the shias, and kurds, they did it for 20 plus years.
It needs to be divided into three countries then there will be piece there,
Thats what needs to be done
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I understand the logic, but this is really not a viable solution. There are two main reasons why why you CAN''T divide Iraq into 3 seperate countries:
1) It would require massive relocations of people. (There are regions that have both Sunni AND Shia, another region that has Sunni Arabs AND Kurds. If you leave behind a small minority in either Sunni or Shia land, there is an obvious danger of genocide. This same kind of mass-migration happened in Europe after WWII. It made for a "nice-neat" Europe, but the human suffering was major.)
2) OIL! If you split the Iraq into three countries, the Sunnis don''t get any oil. (The major oil fields are in the southern/Shia territory and in the northern/kurd territory.) I don''t think the Sunni would agree to this settlement. - Reply to this comment
- I beleive the president-elect will keep his promise that 16 months long enouth to get troop out off Iraq now tp early to say anything.Must wait after January 20 2009.Paytient,paytient.
- Reply to this comment
- The democrats used the war on terror as an emotional tool to take control of Congress after they had voted to go to war. After they got control of Congress they wisely decided to continue the war. They know what would happen if we surrender. Obama is a Democrat. He must find a way to continue to fight while blaming it on Republicans. He is a smart fellow. I''m sure he will find a way to do it.
- Reply to this comment
- That country will be better when all the sunnis are in charge they know how to control the shias, and kurds, they did it for 20 plus years.
It needs to be divided into three countries then there will be piece there,
Thats what needs to be done - Reply to this comment
- If you read further into the security pact it says, Soldiers, contractors will be handed to Iraqi Jurisdiction, for laws broken off base. SOFA (status of forces agreement), Same thing in Korea, Japan, and other countries.
The big major difference here is middle east has eye for an eye. They can use this SOFA agreement in lots of different scenarios.
Look what happened in Iran the other day, a man poored acid into a young womans eyes that didnt want to marry him, his punishment will be acid in his eyes. - Reply to this comment
- I just want to say something about KBR, for those of us that were at Camp Falcon, Baghdad Iraq, we took showers with water that had ecoli in it, fecal matter. Warning signs dont drink water, however impossible when your taking a shower. I wonder when this will come out.
Disgusting hopefully I dont have to go back there for a Third tour.
I will have my 5 gallon water jug bath.
As far as Im concerned, I feel sold out, middle east has different ways of dealing with justice, and the security pact sucks, I feel sold out. I dont think we should be in jurisdiction of Iraqi control if we do something wrong.
Let them kill each other I dont care, but the Sunnis will run the country again and Saudi will make sure of it. - Reply to this comment
- As long as we aren''t responsible for iraqi airspace anymore, Isreal can begin bombing Iran at will.
- Reply to this comment
- "So it does not bother you that Obama lied about getting our troops out of Iraq? HUH."
bailout, you, boosh, cheney and powell are the liars. Quoting Obama during campaign:
"THE call by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity. We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States."
Feel free and explain where he said immediate withdrawal nutjobs.
Oh and by the way, the world quit listening to reich wing nutjobs after they ruined everything the US stands for. - Reply to this comment
- earaches answer to his parents when they asked him what he had planned for his future
Posted by jamesm12341 at 01:26 PM
you should probably apologize to your parents for growing up such a loser
Posted by jamesm12341 at 07:00 PM - Reply to this comment
- Obama is no different to Bush, he is just another thug who will corrupt just like his predecessor.
- Reply to this comment
- This is great. First, a President lies to the people to get us into a war & now the next President lied to the people about getting us out of a war.
A considerable number of people voted for Obama because he promised to get the US out of Iraq within MONTHS of taking office and now we''re a getting totally different line from him. It''s a huge middle finger to the folks the voted for him because he gave that promise.
"Oh this president will be different" Yea right!!
New Title==Obusha - Reply to this comment
- The US cannot leave Iraq until WMD is found. Bush ordered, it''s probably somewhere in Texas ??
- Reply to this comment
- since my tax dollars are paying for it, and chances are i am probably paying a good deal more then you are, I don''''t need to be there for it to be my problem. The President Elect needs to honor his word and get the troops out, screw the agreement get them all out now. Let the middle East become China''''s and Russia''''s problem. Then maybe China would be so busy stopping terrorism in their own country they would not have time to steal technology from us. And more importantly it would save 10 billion a month!
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Posted by getoffmine1
Your money - huh. Be more patriotic as Joe Biden said and support our troops. LOL - Reply to this comment
- why are we still there? YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE YOU ARE THERE, PLUS YOU SHOULD WRITE AN EMAIL AND ASK THE PRESIDENT ELECT THIS SAME QUESTION BECAUSE HE CAMPAIGNED FOR IMMEDIATE REMOVAL.
What do you think?
Posted by BailThisOut at 12:45 PM : Dec 04, 2008
We are still there typical neo con bait and switch. I am so sick of it as a swing voter a middle of the roader so to say I have heard enough from the Rush, Sean, Bill, Ann, Glen, and etc. crowd. Enough already this nonsense has gotten the GOP what they deserved and if they keep it up 2010 will be just as bad.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
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Posted by antoniof123
So it does not bother you that Obama lied about getting our troops out of Iraq? HUH. - Reply to this comment
- To morphndol6
Did you take acid today? or did you forget your medication? You can get help for your problem. - Reply to this comment
- why are we still there? YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE YOU ARE THERE, PLUS YOU SHOULD WRITE AN EMAIL AND ASK THE PRESIDENT ELECT THIS SAME QUESTION BECAUSE HE CAMPAIGNED FOR IMMEDIATE REMOVAL.
What do you think?
Posted by BailThisOut at 12:45 PM : Dec 04, 2008
We are still there typical neo con bait and switch. I am so sick of it as a swing voter a middle of the roader so to say I have heard enough from the Rush, Sean, Bill, Ann, Glen, and etc. crowd. Enough already this nonsense has gotten the GOP what they deserved and if they keep it up 2010 will be just as bad.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it. - Reply to this comment
- why are we still there? YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE YOU ARE THERE, PLUS YOU SHOULD WRITE AN EMAIL AND ASK THE PRESIDENT ELECT THIS SAME QUESTION BECAUSE HE CAMPAIGNED FOR IMMEDIATE REMOVAL.
What do you think?
Posted by BailThisOut at 12:45 PM : Dec 04, 2008
since my tax dollars are paying for it, and chances are i am probably paying a good deal more then you are, I don''t need to be there for it to be my problem. The President Elect needs to honor his word and get the troops out, screw the agreement get them all out now. Let the middle East become China''s and Russia''s problem. Then maybe China would be so busy stopping terrorism in their own country they would not have time to steal technology from us. And more importantly it would save 10 billion a month! - Reply to this comment
- Yea the next three years will not be pretty in Iraq. The bombings will continue as usual...
Posted by hotpaulie at 12:09 PM : Dec 04, 2008
Yes. And they will continue once we are gone, but then we will no longer be there to hear of them.
If a bomb explodes in Baghdad but there is no one from CNN there to report on it, will it kill anyone? - Reply to this comment
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
