Thousands rally in Iraq against US troop presence

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Thousands rally in Iraq against US troop presence
May 26, 2011

BAGHDAD—Tens of thousands of followers of a Shiite anti-American cleric are rallying in Baghdad, demanding the U.S. military leave Iraq at the end of the year.

Thursday's demonstration by Muqtada al-Sadr's supporters comes as Iraqi leaders weigh whether they should ask the U.S. troops to stay on.

Washington is pushing Baghdad for a quick decision on whether to keep some of the 46,000 soldiers currently in Iraq beyond a Dec. 31 departure deadline to ensure security.

The U.S. military counted about 300 busloads of people from Iraq's Shiite south converging on eastern Baghdad's Sadr City for the demonstration.



Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2011/05/26/thousands_rally_in_iraq_against_us_troop_presence/

[DeSwiss]

1. K&R

[Scottybeamer70]

2. More progress

In Iraq, I see. They aren't throwing flowers?

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. And after all we've done for them. Go figure. nt

[grahamhgreen]

4. Can we please GTFO now????

[Hubert Flottz]

5. Look at all those "Hearts and Minds" we've "Liberated"

I'll bet they can't wait to get back to making some Atom Bombs and nerve gas.

[classysassy]

6. We will not leave

without our oil.

[pampango]

7. Juan Cole: (I)t seems to me most likely that the US will have to leave...

http://www.juancole.com/2011/05/congress-yankee-come-home-iraq-pakistan-yankee-go-home.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29

Al-Maliki said a couple of weeks ago that he would go to each of the major political blocs for advice on whether to request a new agreement with the US to leave some troops in Iraq. This statement was widely misinterpreted, I think, in the West. What al-Maliki was actually saying was that he refused unilaterally to extend the US troop presence.

I can’t imagine that any of the major blocs in parliament with the possible exception of the Kurds will advise al-Maliki to do a new SOFA that retains American soldiers in his country. And so it seems to me most likely that the US will have to leave...

The Mahdi Army militia roiled the country in 2004 and could do so again. The US sees them as a proxy for Iran, but this view is largely incorrect. They are Shiite Iraqi nativists and don’t like foreigners in general, sort of an Iraqi Tea Party.