Ah Gee Whiz!; George Is Not Having a Good Day
First the Iraqi’s announce that they don’t want to negotiate a long term Agreement of Forces treaty with the Bush Administration and that they want a timetable on the removal of foreign forces (soldiers and contractors) from their country. Then Syria says there will be no peace with Israel until Bush is out of office.
Iraq Wants Timetable for US to Leave
Washington Post; July 7th
BAGHDAD, July 7 — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has for the first time suggested establishing a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, a step that the Bush administration has long opposed.
Maliki floated the idea on Monday during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he spoke with Arab ambassadors about a security pact being negotiated to determine the future role of U.S. troops in Iraq. The agreement would replace a U.N. mandate authorizing the presence of the troops, which is set to expire Dec. 31.
Maliki said that Iraq has proposed a short-term memorandum of understanding with the United States instead of trying to forge a longer term pact on an issue that has spawned opposition across Iraq’s political divides.
“The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal,” Maliki said, according to a statement released Monday by his office that did not specify how long a period a memorandum would cover. “In all cases, the basis for any agreement will be respect for the full sovereignty of Iraq.” Click here to read more in the Washington Post.
Syria sees no Israel peace before Bush quits
Reuters; July 7th, 2008
PARIS (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has told a newspaper his country is unlikely to make peace with Israel while President George W. Bush remains in office.
However, in an interview published on the website of Le Figaro daily on Monday, Assad said he was betting that the next U.S. leader would get more involved in the peace process.
Assad said Syria and Israel were looking for common ground to start face-to-face negotiations, adding that it was vital to find the right country to mediate such talks.
“The most important thing in direct negotiations is who sponsors them,” Assad told Le Figaro, saying that the United States had an essential role to play.
“Frankly, we do not think that the current American administration is capable of making peace. It doesn’t have either the will or the vision and it only has a few months left,” he said. Click here to read more on Syria and Israel at Reuters.