Iraqi Politicians Now Ready to Talk

by: Chris LeJeune

Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 12:26:15 PM EST

Iraqi Shiite politicians are indicating that they will move faster toward a new security agreement about American troops, and a Bush administration official said he believed that Iraqis could ratify the agreement as early as the middle of this month.

"Before, the Iraqis were thinking that if they sign the pact, there will be no respect for the schedule of troop withdrawal by Dec. 31, 2011," said Hadi al-Ameri, a powerful member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a major Shiite party. "If Republicans were still there, there would be no respect for this timetable. This is a positive step to have the same theory about the timetable as Mr. Obama."

This speaks volumes.  Essentially, the Iraqi government has been stalling and waiting for the US election to be over, before continuing with the security agreement.  Although the Iraqi government never explicitly endorsed one candidate or another, it is now clear who they had hoped would win.

An Obama administration is also expected to shift the focus to Afghanistan. American officials have said that as the war deteriorates in Afghanistan, any additional forces sent there would have to be from among troops withdrawn from Iraq.

Mr. Obama's election also coincided with the American negotiators' acceptance of many of the changes Iraqis demanded in the agreement, which created an overall picture that was easier both for the Iraqis and their neighbors - Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia - to accept.

The Iraqis seem confident about the new President-elect and his role in their government.  Even the Iraqi National Security Adviser is backing Obama's withdrawal plans.

Asked to comment on Obama's pledge to pull combat troops out within 16 months of taking office, National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told Al-Arabiya television: "We think 16 months is good."

"The other thing we witnessed through the Bush period was that when the Iraqi politicians couldn't reach a compromise, Bush interfered," Mr. Habeeb said.

"I don't think Obama will do that; he will not try to set the Iraqi agenda," he said. "I think the politicians will have to be mature enough to solve their own problems and dare to make compromises."

With the security pact coming to a joint agreement and the Iraqi government apparently very confident in the new US leader, it seems that the chapter in America's history known as "Iraq" may finally be coming to a close.

UPDATE (from Brandon): Writing for the Washington Independent, Spencer Ackerman adds:

Obama won't be able to enter office with the Iraq problem solved. But it will be well on its way to being solved. The strategic framework for his desired withdrawal will be in place. And since he and the Iraqi government see eye to eye on the issue, Obama will have the credibility in place to work toward a political compact among the different Iraqi factions -- something the Bush administration hasn't ever had and a McCain administration wouldn't ever have had.