Al-Sadr Decries US Pact at Rally

Because he wants troops to leave Iraq on time

(NEWSER) - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his followers to stop attacking US troops—to make sure they get out of Iraq on time. “Out of my desire to complete Iraq’s independence … I am obliged to halt military operations of the honest Iraqi resistance until the withdrawal of the occupation forces is complete,” the US' longtime foe wrote on his website late Saturday, according to the AP . More»

Sadr faction wants them out on schedule in December

(NEWSER) - Joe Biden arrived in Iraq for a one-day visit today, and the top topic for discussion, behind closed doors anyway, was expected to be the US’ December troop withdrawal deadline, an official tells the AP . In front of closed doors, Biden merely reiterated the US' friendship with Iraq. “The best thing that could happen to the United States, literally, is for you to be a free, prosperous democracy,” he said, before meeting with Jalal Talabani, Nouri al-Maliki, and Massoud Barzani. More»

Maliki vows new government won't team up with Iran

(NEWSER) - US troops must stand by the plan to depart Iraq at the end of 2011, Iraq's PM tells the Wall Street Journal in a lengthy interview. Despite wide expectations that nine months of post-election turmoil would extend the US presence, “the last American soldier will leave Iraq” as scheduled, he said. “This agreement is not subject to extension, not subject to alteration. It is sealed.” The country’s own government and troops can handle lingering threats, he said. More»

Don't blow fragile democracy by decamping, he argues

(NEWSER) - In a bit of campaign deja vu, John McCain is pumping Iraq’s not yet counted March 7 election as “a triumph for Iraq—and for the United States”—and saying the US shouldn't be in a hurry to leave the country. In an op-ed piece in today’s Wall Street Journal , McCain argues that Iraq’s democracy is taking shape at last, and that the US needs to foster it. “For this reason,” he writes, “I urge President Obama to continue to be flexible in implementing the withdrawal of US forces.” More»

(NEWSER) - The US should get out of Iraq sooner rather than later, a top Army officer wrote in a recent memo obtained by the Washington Independent. Col. Timothy Reese, the chief of the Baghdad Operations Command Advisory Team, says American forces “smell bad to the Iraqi nose,” and their presence—currently scheduled to extend until 2011—jeopardizes relations with Baghdad. He also cites the Iraqi government's numerous restrictions on US operations. More»