I wrote yesterday of Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's proposal for a short term agreement covering the U.S. troop presence in Iraq following the expiration of the UN agreement set to expire in December. Comments by Maliki that the Iraqi proposal included a U.S. troop withdrawal timetable sent Administration and Pentagon officials into high gear discounting the call for a timetable.
From the Pentagon:
In a rebuff to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the Pentagon said Monday that any timetable for a US withdrawal from Iraq would depend on conditions on the ground there.
Asked about the prime minister's comments, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters: "With respect to timetables I would say the same thing I would say as respects to the security situation -- it is dependent on conditions on the ground." (Link)
From the White House:
The White House said it did not believe that al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U. S. troop withdrawals.
“Any agreement would not have any hard timetables for withdrawal but could include the desire by the U. S. and Iraq to withdraw troops based on conditions on the ground,” National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
“I know that Prime Minister al-Maliki has said that he doesn’t want a precipitous withdrawal because of the security consequences,” Johndroe said in Toyako, Japan, where Bush is attending the Group of Eight summit. (Link)
Today, Iraq's national security advisor, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, strongly re-emphasized the Iraqis intent that Iraq will not sign any deal that doesn't include specific dates for U.S. troop withdrawal.
Al-Rubaie spoke to reporters after briefing Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf on the progress of the government's security efforts and the talks.
"Our stance in the negotiations underway with the American side will be strong ... We will not accept any memorandum of understanding that doesn't have specific dates to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq," al-Rubaie said.
The Iraqi proposal stipulates that, once Iraqi forces have resumed security responsibility in all 18 of Iraq's provinces, U.S.-led forces would then withdraw from all cities in the country. After that, the country's security situation would be reviewed every six months, for three to five years, to decide when U.S.-led troops would pull out entirely, al-Adeeb said.
So far, the United States has handed control of nine of 18 provinces to Iraqi officials. (Link)
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