Promises, Promises: Gates warns Iraqis US presence not 'open-ended'
After a day of meetings with Iraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates declared the American occupation of Iraq will not continue indefinitely.
Promises, promises.
We all know very well that the US and their zionist handlers are not leaving Iraq without FULL CONTROL over the OIL.
Gates suggested the decision on whether to keep extra U.S. forces sent to secure Baghdad in place will depend in part on whether the Iraqi government makes progress on political reconciliation.
If they pass the law, we'll stay.
If they don't, who knows? - maybe we nuke it and come back when no one is left.
"Our commitment to Iraq is long-term, but it is not a commitment to have our men and women patrolling Iraqi streets open-endedly," Gates said at a joint press conference with Iraqi Defense Minister Abd al Qadr al Mufriji.
Surge Strategy 'Buying Time'
The defense secretary called the surge of an additional 28,000 U.S. forces in Iraq now under way "a strategy of buying time" for the Iraqi government to make progress on political reconciliation. So far that is not happening.
Gates said a decision on whether or not to continue that surge past August will be made "late summer" and a key factor in that decision will be whether the Iraqis have made progress on reconciliation.
In a suggestion of how he will measure that progress, Gates told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the Iraqi parliament needs to move quickly on passing long-delayed laws to heal the rifts between Iraq's Shia and Sunni Muslims.
Last fall, Maliki's government promised to pass several laws aimed at reconciliation, including measures to share Iraq's oil revenue, and to allow some former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party back in the government.
"I expressed hope the Council of Representatives would not recess this summer without passing laws on hydrocarbons, de-Baathification, provincial elections and other measures on political reconciliation," Gates said.
All three of those issues are important to Iraqi's Sunni minority.
Consequences Uncertain but War Not Lost
Asked if there would be consequences — such as the withdrawal of U.S. troops — if the Iraqi parliament does not pass those laws, Gates said: "Progress on reconciliation will be an important element of our evaluation in late summer. And I think that is as far as I need to go on that."
We're all on a 'need to know' basis - which means we find out when we're all dead.
In response to questions about whether Maliki made any commitments to Gates about passing those laws, Gates said Maliki pointed out that in Iraq, the parliament is an independent branch of government.
Gates also responded to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's comment on Thursday that "the war is lost."
"I have great respect for Sen. Reid. But on the question of whether the war is lost," he said, "I respectfully disagree."
It's not lost - they know exactly where it is.
Israeli newspaper Maariv: Gates in the region to pave the way for American withdrawal from Iraq
Islamicnews translated an article published today on Israeli newspaper Maariv [Hebrew] written by Ben Kaspit, an Israeli journalist an political analyst who is very close to the Israeli decision makers saying that the reason behind US Minister of Defense visit to the Middle-East is to inform leaders of the region that the US decided to withdraw from Iraq in a maximum period of two years....