U.S., Iraq scale down negotiations over forces

Karen DeYoung, WashingtonPost.com: U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency, according to senior U.S. officials, effectively leaving talks over an extended U.S. military presence there to the next administration.

In place of the formal status-of-forces agreement negotiators had hoped to complete by July 31, the two governments are now working on a "bridge" document, more limited in both time and scope, that would allow basic U.S. military operations to continue beyond the expiration of a U.N. mandate at the end of the year.

The failure of months of negotiations over the more detailed accord -- blamed on both the Iraqi refusal to accept U.S. terms and the complexity of the task -- deals a blow to the Bush administration's plans to leave in place a formal military architecture in Iraq that could last for years.

Although President Bush has repeatedly rejected calls for a troop withdrawal timeline, "we are talking about dates," acknowledged one U.S. official close to the negotiations. Iraqi political leaders "are all telling us the same thing. They need something like this in there. . . . Iraqis want to know that foreign troops are not going to be here forever." (more)

LSB: You know Cheney-Bush are pissed with themselves that they pushed for free elections in Iraq a few years ago. Now they have to live with those freely elected officials. (Now who's going to be watching out for the oil interests of Bushco?) Electing Obama is paramount, as we don't need a McCain administration negotiating this deal - he wants U.S. forces in Iraq for 100 years.