One Utah

The United Nations mandate for the Multinational Force, which currently provides a shred of legality to cover the U.S. occupation of Iraq, expires on December 31, 2008 at the request of Iraq’s Green Zone Government. Then what? Then we withdraw, right?

In the quotes below, emphasis added just to highlight the deep respect our leaders have for Iraqi sovereignty.

Via Adam Blickstein, Democracy Arsenal. What the John McCain of 2004 told the Council of Foreign Relations:

Question: “What would or should we do if, in the post-June 30th period, a so-called sovereign Iraqi government asks us to leave, even if we are unhappy about the security situation there?”

McCain’s Answer: “Well, if that scenario evolves than I think it’s obvious that we would have to leave because — if it was an elected government of Iraq, and we’ve been asked to leave other places in the world. If it were an extremist government then I think we would have other challenges, but I don’t see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people.”

What President Bush said in 2007:

Q: Thank you, Mr. President. You say you want nothing short of victory, that leaving Iraq would be catastrophic; you once again mentioned al Qaeda. Does that mean that you are willing to leave American troops there, no matter what the Iraqi government does? I know this is a question we’ve asked before, but you can begin it with a “yes” or “no.”

THE PRESIDENT: We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This is a sovereign nation. Twelve million people went to the polls to approve a constitution. It’s their government’s choice. If they were to say, leave, we would leave.

Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq’s national security advisor said today that the Green Zone Government will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said, “The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the [U.S.] forces or a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal.”

Of course, the Iraqi parliament has already voted to end the U.S. occupation, and polls in both the U.S. and Iraq show strong majorities in favor of immediate or near-term withdrawal.

Updates after the break…

UPDATE: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reminds us that the U.S. Congress has already voted to impose an Iraq withdrawal timetable and says, “President Bush refuses to listen to Congress or the American people, but he cannot support Iraqi political reconciliation and security and ignore Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki…” Wanna bet?

UPDATE: In an April 24, 2007 interview with Charlie Rose, President Bush said he would remove troops if asked by Prime Minister Maliki. Via Think Progress:

ROSE: But if he said get out now, we don’t want you anymore–

BUSH: I don’t see how we could stay. It is his country.

ROSE: But if he said that, it would lead to the catastrophe that you have suggested.

BUSH: That’s why he’s not going to say it.

ROSE: You don’t think he’ll say it?

BUSH: I don’t. No, I don’t.

UPDATE: This morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Senator McCain was asked about Iraqi PM Maliki’s call yesterday for a withdrawal timetable. McCain first flatly asserted that the news contradicted what he had heard in direct talks with Iraqi officials, then he dodged the question.

UPDATE: The Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most revered Shiite leader in Iraq on Tuesday rejected any security agreement with the U.S., stressing such deal will affect the country’s sovereignty.

This entry was posted Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 11:53 am and is filed under Disaster, Iraq, National Politics, This Blog, War. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.