Credible US Middle East analysts see signs of tipping point for US drawdown in Iraq

Posted July 8th, 2008 by Sam

Note: I say credible because these guys aren’t part of the neocon orthodoxy that informs the top people in the Bush administration, slack-jaw lowbrows like Michael O’Hanlon and Ken Pollack. Lynch and Martin are usually very interested in real discussion and engagement with the players throughout the Middle East beyond the ever-shifting borders of Israel.

Abu Aardvark (Marc Lynch)

American Footprints (Eric Martin)

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Iraq Govt spokesman demands

On July 9th, 2008 Sam says:

Iraq Govt spokesman demands withdrawal deadline.

Story here

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A deadline should be set for the withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces from Iraq, and the pullout could be done by 2011, an Iraqi government spokesman said Tuesday.

Ali al-Dabbagh said any timetable would depend on “conditions and the circumstances that the country would be undergoing.” But he said a pullout within “three, four or five” years was possible.

“It can be 2011 or 2012,” al-Dabbagh said. “We don’t have a specific date in mind, but we need to agree on the principle of setting a deadline.”

Al-Dabbagh’s comments come as the United States and Iraq try to negotiate a framework governing the stationing of U.S. and allied troops beyond the end of 2008, when the current U.N. mandate for coalition forces expires.

Al-Dabbagh said any such deal should include a withdrawal deadline. A day earlier, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki also said he favored a short-term accord that would spell out a withdrawal schedule for U.S. troops.