FINALLY! SOME GOOD NEWS TO REPORT FROM IRAQ

It is beginning to look like the Bush admnistration pushed to hard to establish 53 permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

U.S. security talks with Iraq in trouble in Baghdad and D.C.

Leila Fadel and Warren P. Strobel McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: June 10, 2008 08:39:59 PM
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/40549.html

BAGHDAD — A proposed U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that would set the conditions for a defense alliance and long-term U.S. troop presence appears increasingly in trouble, facing growing resistance from the Iraqi government, bipartisan opposition in Congress and strong questioning from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

President Bush is trying to finish the agreement before he leaves office, and senior U.S. officials insist publicly that the negotiations can be completed by a July 31 target date.

The U.S. is apparently scaling back some of its demands, including backing off one that particularly incenses Iraqis, blanket immunity for private security contractors.

But meeting the July 31 deadline seems increasing doubtful, and in Baghdad and Washington there is growing speculation that a United Nations mandate for U.S.-led military operations in Iraq may have to be renewed after it expires at the end of 2008.

On Capitol Hill, top Democrats and Republicans complain that Bush is rushing the negotiations to try to tie his successor's hands.

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