Iraq on Obama

Sunday, November 09, 2008
Reuters.com brings us the following report and it goes in part like this...
...So far, Iraqi politicians have welcomed Obama's victory and made clear that they back his plans for withdrawal... "Obama's presence at the head of the U.S. administration will give new blood, new thoughts, new plans," Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said last week. "We want to be in a fundamental alliance with the United States."... Because of the sharp reduction in violence in Iraq over the last year, Iraqi leaders now see the war as being in its final chapter. The death toll in Iraq fell last month to its lowest level since the U.S. invasion nearly six years ago...
Read the full report at link below...
ANALYSIS-Iraqi leaders welcome Obama but assert themselves

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>>> Bloomberg.com has this report and it goes in part like this...
...The Iraqi national security adviser, Mouafaq Al-Rubaie, has indicated a preference for Obama's 16-month pullout schedule rather than the three-year timeline in the draft negotiated with Bush administration officials... Obama will also face a decision once he takes office on Jan. 20: whether to adhere to his campaign pledge of pulling U.S. combat troops out of Iraq within the 16 months he envisions or to deviate from that timetable as he seeks to build up forces in Afghanistan... The Iraqis and Obama have "got to make some tough choices," said Michael O'Hanlon, an analyst at Washington's Brookings Institution... At stake immediately is whether the U.S. and Iraq will conclude an agreement authorizing an American military presence beyond Dec. 31, when the current United Nations mandate expires. If not, and the UN resolution isn't extended, the 152,000 U.S. troops will withdraw to bases and cease operations, American officials said...
Read this report in full at link below...
Iraq Seeks More Talks on U.S. Forces Accord, May Wait for Obama
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>>> Worldfocus.org had the following News Audio posted on their website Nov. 7th...
The future of U.S. military involvement in Iraq may well be at a turning point in the next few months, as both governments try to finalize a new security agreement that governs U.S. forces in Iraq... Given Barack Obama’s election as the next U.S. president, many Iraqis are starting to believe that a withdrawal of American forces will be more likely within a couple of years...
Click it out at link below...
Obama’s election changes Iraqi attitudes
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>>> Institute for War & Peace Reporting...
Politicians Ponder Obama Strategy on Iraq

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>>> NYTimes.com... The title says it all...
Jihadi Leader Says Radicals Share Obama Victory

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Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lorie Jewell