Yeah, you read that right, American.
Related: Occupation Iraq: Obama to Stick and Stay
"Troops to stay in Iraqi cities after June" by Robert H. Reid, Associated Press | December 14, 2008
BAGHDAD - Some American troops will remain in Iraqi cities after a June 30 deadline for combat soldiers to leave urban areas, the top US commander said yesterday.
So we were LIED TO YET AGAIN!!????
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, dismissed suggestions by his own spokesman that the Iraqi government may ask some US troops to remain behind as trainers after the Dec. 31, 2011, deadline for the withdrawal of all American troops set by the new US-Iraq security agreement.
Those comments are likely to rekindle debate in Iraq about the agreement, which was ratified by parliament last month and takes effect Jan. 1. But Iraqi voters must approve the deal in a referendum by the end of July.
And if they vote for us to leave, either we will rig the election or not leave. C'mon, America; they won't listen to us, what makes you think they are going to listen to the Iraqis!
Suggestions of loopholes in the withdrawal timeline could be exploited by Iraqi politicians seeking to undermine Maliki ahead of the referendum. A number of Sunni and Shi'ite politicians, as well as the powerful Shi'ite clergy, accepted the deal after assurances from Maliki that the timetable for the US departure was firm.
I'm not getting angry because I never believed it to begin with! And the Iraqis should hang Maliki from a lamppost!
General Raymond Odierno, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, told reporters that troops who serve in training and mentoring teams would not be included in the mandate to pull combat troops from the cities.
"We believe that's part of our transition teams," Odierno said at the US air base in Balad, where he met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. He said the training and mentoring teams would stay at urban security stations to support Iraqi soldiers and police.
He did not say how many troops would remain in urban security stations, but said all locations would be coordinated with the Iraqi government based on its requirements.
A substantial drawdown is expected in the 149,000-strong US force in the coming year. President-elect Barack Obama pledged during the campaign to remove combat troops from Iraq within 16 months, leaving a smaller residual force through the end of 2011.
By who? Not me!
But US military officials are concerned there could be an upswing in violence in the run-up to provincial elections Jan. 31 and parliamentary balloting by the end of 2009.
COULD BE? I EXPECT ONE, CUI BONO?
"It's important that we maintain enough presence here that we can help them get through this year of transition," Odierno said. "We don't want to take a step backwards because we've made so much progress here."
Earlier, at a regional security conference in Bahrain, Gates warned that terrorists should not try to test Obama with a crisis in his first months in office. He also reiterated his criticism of Iran, accusing it of interfering in Iraq and Afghanistan, including supplying weapons and training to insurgents.
Translation: Expect a FALSE-FLAG ATTACK to be blamed on IRAN in the next six months, Amurka!!!!
During the coming elections, Maliki is expected to present himself as the leader who defeated terrorism and ended the US occupation - an attractive message to a people worn out by nearly six years of war....
I'm OFFENDED by that last statement!! Smells like a ZIONIST INSULT!!
The IRAQIS have been MORE THAN PATIENT -- as ALL MUSLIMS ARE!!!!!!!
You would be WORN OUT, too, Zionist jewsshit!
Last week, however, chief government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters in Washington that some US troops might be needed to continue training Iraq's security forces well past the 2011 deadline contained in the security pact.
"We do understand that the Iraqi military is not going to be built out in the three years. We do need many more years. It might be 10 years," Dabbagh said. He suggested that Iraq could negotiate a supplemental agreement providing for US trainers to stay on after 2011.
Nasir al-Saadi, a lawmaker loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, said the comments showed the withdrawal timetable was meaningless.Don't you hate it when Sadr is proved right all the time?
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Here is someone who WON'T be staying ten years (inshallah):
"
BAGHDAD — President Bush flew to Iraq on Sunday, a final trip to highlight the recently completed security agreement between Iraq and the United States.... As with previous visits — in November 2003, June 2006 and September 2007 — preparations for the visit were cloaked in secrecy and carried out with ruse....
Just like the WHOLE TENURE of the BUSH ADMINISTRATION -- from 9/11 on!!!
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He got a wonderful reception, from what I heard:
"Iraqi journalist hurls shoes at 'dog' Bush
BAGHDAD (AFP) — An Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes and an insult at George W. Bush, without hitting him, as the US president was shaking hands with the Iraqi premier at his Baghdad office on Sunday.
He DID IT for us ALL!!!!!!
As the two leaders met in Nuri al-Maliki's private office, a journalist sitting in the third row jumped up, shouting: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog," and threw his shoes one after the other towards Bush.... The journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi from Al-Baghdadia channel which broadcasts from Cairo, was frogmarched from the room by security staff, an AFP journalist said.
Soles of shoes are considered the ultimate insult in Arab culture....
BRAVO!!! BRA-VOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
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