Iraq May Agree To Timetable For U.S. Withdrawal

Despite the fact that President Bush has insisted that any timetable would give an advantage to the enemy, Reuters reports that "Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the prospect on Monday of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of negotiations over a new security agreement with Washington" and that "it was the first time the U.S.-backed Shi'ite-led government has floated the idea of a timetable." Maliki has importantly, leading a Shiite dominated Iraqi government, launched crackdowns on terrorist Shi'ite militias. "Today, we are looking at the necessity of terminating the foreign presence on Iraqi lands and restoring full sovereignty," Maliki told Arab ambassadors in blunt remarks during an official visit to Abu Dhabi.

The Times of London's Marie Colvin reports from Mosul on July 6 that "American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror" and that "Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant 'last stand' in the northern city of Mosul. A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10. Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects." Brigadier General Abdullah Abdul, a senior Iraqi commander, was quoted as saying that “we’ve limited their movements with check-points. They are doing small attacks and trying big ones, but they’re mostly not succeeding.” Major-General Mark Hertling, American commander in the north, said: “I think we’re at the irreversible point.”

Perhaps it is the fact that Iraq has seen measurable progress that allows Mailiki to make statements about timetables. Perhaps it merely trying to woo Arab states. I am not sure whether a timetable is necessary if the U.S. were to withdraw, because I am nto sure what the point of alerting the enemy to future plans would be. But I think Bush needs to work as hard as possible to make Iraq as secure and safe as possible, to make the Iraqi army as competent and strong as possible, and the Iraqi government as functional and unified as possible before he leaves office. This is especially important if Barack Obama were to be the next President and were to immediately begin a timetabled withdrawal. To leave Obama a stronger Iraq that can hopefully withstand his withdrawal without collapse would be a major victory for the Bush presidency. This might be a pipe dream and unrealistic but we can only hope that progress politically and militarily continues so that the next president can work with a self-sufficient secure Iraqi government.


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