From Asia Times:
Damascus - Following his cabinet's approval of a draft Status of Forces agreement with the United States regulating the US presence in Iraq, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has the hardest sell of all to convince Iraqis the pact is in their "best interests". Deep down, though, and with Iran looking over his shoulder, he could well be banking on parliament rejecting the pact.
On Sunday, 38 ministers, including Maliki and his two deputies, finally signed the controversial draft security arrangement with the US. In essence, it says that the 152,000 US troops will withdraw from cities and towns throughout Iraq by June 30, 2009, and pull out completely from the war-torn country by December 31, 2011. Parliament will vote next week to either accept or reject the pact - it cannot make any changes.
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Damascus - Following his cabinet's approval of a draft Status of Forces agreement with the United States regulating the US presence in Iraq, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has the hardest sell of all to convince Iraqis the pact is in their "best interests". Deep down, though, and with Iran looking over his shoulder, he could well be banking on parliament rejecting the pact.
On Sunday, 38 ministers, including Maliki and his two deputies, finally signed the controversial draft security arrangement with the US. In essence, it says that the 152,000 US troops will withdraw from cities and towns throughout Iraq by June 30, 2009, and pull out completely from the war-torn country by December 31, 2011. Parliament will vote next week to either accept or reject the pact - it cannot make any changes.
Read more ....