Iraqi Government Fears Troop Pullout.
There are those who want us to believe that we've lost in Iraq. There are those who wish us to believe that we never should have gone there to begin with, and that the Iraqis do not want us there, as if we are hostile invaders. There are those who say that we should withdraw our people immediately, but this story tells a different truth, that the Iraqis as a nation fear a premature withdrawal of U.S. troops:
Quote:
Iraq warns of consequences of early U.S. pullout
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq's defense minister on Saturday warned of the dangers of withdrawing U.S. forces before the end of 2011, a date set with Washington in a security pact opposed by some lawmakers.
Defense Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim said withdrawing before that date would threaten Iraq's oil exports, enable neighboring countries to encroach on Iraqi territory and give free reign to foreign spies.
"The period of the timetabled withdrawal gives us enough time to complete our abilities -- training, combat and technical -- and secures us great support," Jassim told a news conference in Baghdad.
His comments came a day after thousands of followers of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protested in Baghdad against the pact, which cabinet approved on Sunday.
Next week, parliament is scheduled to vote on the deal, though some legislators say the session could be delayed.
While Sadr's followers oppose the pact outright and members of his bloc in parliament have disrupted parliamentary debates on it, other groups have reservations about some details.
"Successive governments have not succeeded in disarming the heavy and medium weapons of, and I am not naming any names, the armed blocs and armed wings," he added, justifying the pact's 2011 withdrawal date.
Sadr's supporters have staged several violent uprisings since 2003 and the government has accused him of failing to disband his Mehdi Army militia, despite a ceasefire.
The security pact governs the U.S. troop presence in Iraq and will replace a United Nations mandate which expires at the end of the year. Iraqi politicians are under pressure to pass the deal to avoid an extension of the mandate.
The defense minister said Iraq's navy was not ready to assume responsibility from U.S.-led forces for protecting offshore terminals that export the country's crude.
"If we evict them in an unplanned or sudden way, then ... piracy will begin here ... the ability to export will be hugely threatened," he said.
Some countries shell certain areas of Iraq daily, he said, without naming any, and the presence of U.S. forces deters them from expanding their operations. Turkey frequently shells northern Iraq in its hunt for Kurdish separatist rebels.
(Additional reporting by Aws Qusay; Writing by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Giles Elgood)
Demonstrations by Sadr Shi'ites? Could these be related to the Shi'ite factions who rule Iran? Of course, they are. That's what the U.S. commanders in Iraq have been saying for years, that we are fighting a proxy war with Iran in Iraq. The Iranians have even admitted to financing and training Iraq-bound insurgents through Hezbollah. The Shia should be jumping for joy that we deposed its opposition, Hussein's Baathist Sunni's, but they also realize that they are shackled in assuming power themselves as long as the U.S. remains in Iraq in force. The Iraqi Government officials see what most Americans don't, daily. They are aware of the timetable that they need to reach a point of solvency, militarily, economically, and politically. They now openly state that a U.S. pull out would spell out vulnerability of the government and an invitation to yet another coup, or even an outright invasion by Iran.
