DO THEY REALLY THINK POTSHOTS WON'T BE TAKEN AT US TROOPS IN IRAQ?

Yahoo and AP http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AjSnGGMWaYrKKbSpeKHuTjNX6GMA are reporting the deal is nearly set to establish permanent U.S. bases in Iraq long after the UN security mandate expires next summer.

I've heard a lot of arguments about how we have had troops in Germany and Korea for 50 years and that is true, but there is one glaring difference. Nobody is taking potshots at our troops in Germany and Korea, but if we establish permanent bases in Iraq the GIs assigned to the area will be under constant fire from insurgents, terrorists, militants or you name it.

Whoever came up this idea must have been out to lunch on the day the lecture was held on how a guerrilla war is fought.

COMMENTARY BY BILL CORCORAN, EDITOR OF CORKSPHERE

US: Iraq security pact can be finalized in July

By BUSHRA JUHI, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 17 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - The U.S. State Department's top Iraq adviser said Tuesday he believes an agreement to establish a long-term security relationship between Iraq and the United States will be completed by the end of July.

"We're confident it can be achieved, and by the end of July deadline," David Satterfield told reporters in Baghdad's U.S.-guarded Green Zone.

The pact also would provide a legal basis for keeping American troops in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

But tempering the optimism were recent reports in Iraq and Washington that the talks had stalled because of stiff Iraqi opposition, and it would not be finished before President Bush leaves office.

A senior Bush administration official close to the talks told The Associated Press on Monday that it was "very possible" the U.S. may have to extend the existing United Nations mandate.

Iran also has lashed out at the agreement, suggesting that if permanent U.S. military bases are established on Iraqi soil, the country could be used as a launching pad for attacks on the neighboring country.

Satterfield disputed that Tuesday, saying Washington "does not think Iraq should be an arena, a platform for attacks on other states."

"We want to see Iraqi sovereignty strengthened, not weakened," Satterfield told reporters.
Meanwhile, the head of Saddam Hussein's tribal clan was killed Tuesday by a bomb planted on his car, Iraqi police said.

Sheik Ali al-Nida was the 65-year-old chief of Iraq's al-Bu Nasir tribe, a large Sunni Arab clan of about 20,000 members, including Saddam's family.

Al-Nida and one of his guards died when a bomb glued to the undercarriage of his car exploded as they drove through the Wadi Shishain area of Tikrit, a mostly Sunni Arab city about 80 miles north of Baghdad, an officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.

Three other guards were seriously wounded, the officer said.

As the head of the clan, al-Nida received Saddam's body after his 2006 execution and arranged the former dictator's funeral. In 2007, he founded a so-called Awakening Council in Saddam's home village of Ouja, partnering with U.S. forces to fight Sunni militants in the area.
Members of Saddam's tribe have been targeted before, but it was unclear whether it was because of their ties to the former Iraqi dictator or because of long-standing tribal rivalries.
Al-Nida's brother, Mahmoud al-Nida, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the summer of 2006.

U.S. and Iraqi military operations continued in Baghdad Tuesday with Iraqi soldiers cordoning off an area to search houses following a tip militants were hiding there, an officer said.
An AP reporter at the scene said a suspected car bomber rammed into the fence of a house before gunmen burst out of the vehicle running. A gun battle erupted with Iraqi soldiers killing at least one of the men. Two others escaped and a fourth wounded man was arrested.
Afterward, the dead man's body lay in the street, covered with a newspaper. Blood pooled nearby.