No Deal

By Ron Beasley

I was never too upset about the Bush administration's attempt to get a status of forces agreement  signed before they left office because I never believed it would happen.  As Fester reported this morning one of the things they requested was 58 permanent basis.  The Iraqis recognized that what the US was asking for was not a status of forces agreement but a continued occupation agreement.  We have seen over the last few weeks that nearly all segments of the Iraqi population are opposed to such an agreement.  Well apparently even the usually delusional Bush administration has seen the writing on the wall.

Bush administration says it may not get Iraq deal this year

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is conceding for the first time that the United States may not finish a complex security agreement with Iraq before President Bush leaves office.

Faced with stiff Iraqi opposition, it is "very possible" the U.S. may have to extend an existing U.N. mandate, said a senior administration official close to the talks. That would mean major decisions about how U.S. forces operate in Iraq could be left to the next president, including how much authority the U.S. must give Iraqis over military operations and how quickly the handover takes place.

The official said the goal is still to have an agreement by year's end. And the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, said he feels no pressure from the U.S. political calendar, and that Dec. 31 is "a clear deadline."

Still, Crocker also said last week, "My focus on this is more on getting it done right than getting it done quick."

The Bush administration is seeking an agreement with Baghdad that would provide for a normal, permanent U.S. military and diplomatic presence in Iraq. The word "permanent" has been a flashpoint for many who oppose the war, both in the U.S. and Iraq. But the U.S. official stressed that the agreement will not call for permanent U.S. bases on Iraqi soil.

On his recent trip to Iran al-Malaki was told by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei not to sign a security pact with the US. 

Khamenei told al-Maliki that the most important and fundamental problem for Iraq at present is the presence of Occupation forces. He affirmed, "We are certain that the people of Iraq, through their intrinsic unity and effort, will cross over these difficult conditions and arrive at a place befitting them. The dream of the Americans most certainly will never be realized." He emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran consider helping the government and people of Iraq a religious duty. He expressed the hope that al-Maliki's visit to Iran and the agreements he signed there would strengthen relations between the two countries.

Al-Maliki expressed his conviction that Iraqis were attaining a consensus and beginning to speak with a single voice. Khamenei expressed his concern that the Americans would interfere illegitimately and "impudently" in Iraqi affairs and disrupt this building consensus. He compared the current role of the US with the one the British used to play in promoting divide and rule policies even in independent Iraq after 1932. He also expressed his worry that the US would worm itself into every aspect of Iraq's affairs.

Make no mistake, al-Malaki is a puppet but one with two masters.  The stronger one is in Teheran not in Washington DC.