SOFA approved by Iraq & US
A sort of status of forces agreement (SOFA) has been hammered out between the US and Iraq for the hundreds of troops that will be arriving to help the Iraqis stop the juggernaut of al Qaeda-linked ISIS forces pressing towards Baghdad. You might remember that a SOFA was the sticking point between the countries when the US (half-assed) didn’t want to withdra completely from Iraq. Stars & Stripes reports;
The protections are based on an exchange of diplomatic note between the two nations, and provide legal protections equivalent to the diplomatic immunity enjoyed by U.S. troops already advising on non-operational matters like foreign military sales.
“We believe these protections are adequate to the short-term assessment and advisory mission our troops will be performing in Iraq,” Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement Monday. “With this agreement, we will be able to start establishing the first few assessment teams.”
Of course, the hundreds of troops headed for Iraq are quite a bit fewer than the thousands that the US wanted to leave behind in 2011. Nonetheless, I guess that it’s easier to negotiate with Maliki when the lions are at the gate of Baghdad than it was when he was basking in the relative peace that Americans had spilled blood for the first time.
Category: Terror War
Funny how the near-term and very real prospect of having one’s head cut off – literally – by a bunch of extremist terrorist bastards has a way of changing some people’s perspective on things.
He should be worried.
How long before it becomes more than just insurgency? Countdown began in April. I believe it was a Thursday.
Glad they nailed that down. However it means nothing to extremist Muslim murderers.
And what all this talk of SOFAs? Man I got three sofas in the house and one in the garage. If they need some good sofas I’ll gladly donated to the effort. Kinda like metal drives in WWII. I can get something started in the community to collect sofas and get them where their needed. It’s good to see Americans come together in a true war effort like our troops needing sofas. Makes me feel patriotic.
Sparks I like that idea. I’m actually trying to get rid of a couple sofas. Great thinking on your part.
Ain’t that what ponds are fer?
Roh-Dog…LMAO. Down south where I grew up you never dived into the old swimming hole until you did a swim and feel first. Sofas, tires, fridges, you name it. If you took an unchecked header in first it could be ugly.
Up here in CT too. The thing that gets me is that there’s usually a flat rate for furniture disposals of 5-10 Dollars U.S. at town dumps and seasonal free pickups. If these great citizens just drank mickey’s one night instead of bud, sheet, they’d be able to pay for it! I don’t even want to know what the illegal dumping ticket would cost…
I love how everyone thinks that 300 troops will do anything other than momentarily stop the thousands of ISIS troops that want to take Baghdad. It isn’t about defending the city, it’s about defending the embassy.
Best case scenario, we see Tehran all over again. Worse case scenario, we see Benghazi all over again… but with more bodies and less video cover-up.
They wouldn’t have any choice but to agree to a sofa before complete withdrawal. The obama (Liberal) agenda was to withdraw.
What’s done is done, we shouldn’t be going back in. That boat has sailed.
So a SOFA but no HFP/IDP? Budget cuts are a b**ch.
Come on.
Obama ran and and came into office with the intent to “end the wars” so there was no negotiations. He was against the war before he was for it and against seeing it succeed.
Dude only does things to increase poll numbers and perspective democratic voters. That is the only reason anything is occurring because his magnificent legacy is in danger of being exposed for the gigantic failure it is.
Ovomit.
Oil makes us do things we really don’t want to do.