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Would we like to guess how many US Armed Forces will remain on Iraqi territory in twelve months time?

The current total of occupation troops is 47,000 if all the US-sourced mercenary contactors are ignored, though nobody seems to have a count of those. The current deal is The US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement and it has a deadline of the end of this year for the complete withdrawal of all troops.

One can only hope Iraq's government is sufficiently independent that it can withstand the pressure to sign an extension. I have absolutely no faith the US government won't press for one.

Why should you have faith in them, theyve given none of us any reason to believe in them. Were as corrupt as corrupt can be. Good intentions dont cut it anymore, RAH RAH Shish Boom Bah HOORAY for the Red White & Blue...its bullshit. The animal is rabid and the rabies is spreading.

I'll go with 30 to 40 thousand plus all of the mercs. Iraqi independence is not the goal, control of the central Asian resources is what matters. We will have a presence there for the foreseeable future unless something drastic at home develops.

Scrat;1350968 wrote: Iraqi independence is not the goal, control of the central Asian resources is what matters.I'd be interested to know what your opinion of that goal is.

Accountable;1350969 wrote: I'd be interested to know what your opinion of that goal is.


From this end of the world? They're not your resources so keep your hands off

Bryn Mawr;1350992 wrote: From this end of the world? They're not your resources so keep your hands off


Quite right, the british were in there stealing them first, we just didn't pretend it was for the good of the Iraqis.

I note we're into October with no Iraqi request for an extension beyond the year-end. I'm impressed.

There are currently 45,000 US troops in Iraq. The White House is negotiating to leave 3,000. The Pentagon is demanding 18,000. The count of weapons-carrying Western private contractors will undoubtedly be in five figures. Rumsfeld's US bases to last a thousand years have mostly been flogged off as technology city sites to local nabobs and the remaining few will, one imagines, follow suit.

The acid test will be the shape of Iraqi foreign policy, whether residual US troops will retain immunity from local laws and whether Iraqis continue to be killed by Americans. And, of course, we still have to reach the end of the year.

Iraq withdrawal: How many US troops will remain? - CSMonitor.com

And, coincidentally, "US defence secretary Leon Panetta has insisted that any US troops remaining in Iraq beyond the scheduled pull-out at the end of this year must remain immune from local prosecution".

Do I get a say-so? No, Mr Panatta. Get your bloody troops to obey the local laws instead. There's a first time for everything.

What are you going to do if they refuse? Remove every last one that's not got diplomatic cover? That's fine by me.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15208373

spot;1371973 wrote: What are you going to do if they refuse? Remove every last one that's not got diplomatic cover? That's fine by me.And, who'd have thought they had the backbone, Iraq's negotiators refused to blink. No immunity. The only troops left after the year end will be the several thousand defending the US Embassy and that's it.

I congratulate the Iraqi government.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15410154