Pols Slug It Out Over Iraq

Discussions with Baghdad 'are ongoing': spokesman

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon threw cold water on a story today that US troops are leaving Iraq by year's end, MSNBC reports. "Suggestions that a final decision has been reached about our training relationship with the Iraqi government are wrong," a Pentagon spokesman said. "Those discussions are ongoing." Earlier, the AP reported that Washington failed to renew its security agreement with Baghdad, and would pull out its 41,000 troops by Jan. 1 as planned. More»

(NEWSER) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has landed in Iraq for a surprise visit, the AP reports. He'll meet with troops stationed at a command post in southern Iraq who are largely serving as advisers. He's also expected to see Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and visit the restive Kurdish region. More»

Maliki declares June 30 'National Sovereignty Day'

(AP) - Iraqi forces have assumed formal control of security in Baghdad and other cities after US combat troops withdrew from urban areas. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for combat troops to pull back. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has declared a public holiday and proclaimed June 30 as "National Sovereignty Day." More»

Legal immunity for troops remains stumbling block in talks

(NEWSER) - Significant progress has been made on the security agreement being negotiated between Iraq and the US, the AP reports, with two Iraqi officials saying that the deal sets October 2010 as the deadline for a near-complete withdrawal. Legal immunity for troops remains an issue, and contributed to a “very difficult” call yesterday between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. More»

Move by Bush, Maliki toward timetable is 'devastating blow'

(NEWSER) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is stuck in an awkward position after both President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki moved closer to a withdrawal timetable favored by Barack Obama, Politico notes. McCain has opposed such a measure, but in 2004 asserted that if a sovereign Iraqi government asked US troops to leave, the American government should comply. More»