yep.

Sounds like bullies on the playground changing the rules that don’t work for them. If you are not doing anything wrong, you don’t have to change the regulations.
It is a new level of sickening.
Send them back the to playground.

The Bush administration and Congress support communist troops? Never! Not till you pry the corporations outta their cold dead hands!

Great post BT. So when is McCain going to accuse Bush of setting a date to surrender?

It is kind of odd — McSame is talking like it’s 6 months ago and none of this is happening.

McMumbles showing signs of not knowing what’s going on? I don’t think anybody couls have anticipated that.

Accountability Now is sounding mighty good.

Looking mighty good, too:

900 donors gave $63,529 as of now.

Who’s going to push it over 1000 donors?

Clearly, we should privatize the Iraqi government before this sovereignty thing gets out of hand.

Give early and give often

Cole has run down on things too:
SOFA Near to Agreement?;
US Combat Troops out by end of 2010?
Kurds Unify Peshmerga, Surround Kirkuk

Accountability Now!

The Bush sellout makes perfect sense. The kickbacks to the Bush family from the contractors are huge. Plus, there’s no chance that a Bush will ever serve in Iraq. It’s the way Republics like it.

How dare the Iraqis propose rules for the American Coliseum in Iraq.

I’m a little dense today. Yes, the insistence on immunity for contractors is appalling, but how is that “selling out the troops”? Because it’s holding up an agreement that would otherwise bring the troops home sooner, or something else?

Thanks.

I take it very literally as putting US troops in harms way by stalling the negotiations.

Don’t forget about the Money Bomb today!

digg it here
and
upvote on reddit here

it’s the bomb!!!111

Bring the troops home and leave the mercenaries in Iraq or send ‘em off to China or Uzbekistan or somewhere…. just don’t let them come back to the US. You see, if they do, they’ll become SWAT officers and kill pets and taser people to death. (See Digby’s post this morning on the thugs in Baltimore County. Sick making.)

On second thought, if Generation Kill has any validity, I’m not even so sure I want all of the troops back here.

Blackwater gets immunity for slaughtering civilians, while Hamdan gets Gitmoized for driving a car.

Speaking of which, I’m kind of surprised I haven’t seen much front-page posting here or elsewhere on the relative leniency of Hamdan’s sentence. He’s effectively been sentenced to time served and technically could be released in 5 months. Would love to hear Christy’s or looseheadprop’s thoughts on what this means.

More glorious Jane

Given that there have been stories about Blackwater going after US troops and creating extra problems for them due to their (Blackwater’s) actions, yeah, it doesn’t help the troops att all to be holding up the agreement by requiring that Blackwater receive immunity for their criminal acts.

Sorry, I don’t have specific links.

Five months is January; Is it the 1/7 or 1/20 – Is this kicking the can down the road?

Thanks BT.

I don’t want my tax dollars going to any more militias.

OK, not quite what I have been readin-from Iraqi papers the AP and the BBC this am. All say, and I went back to check just to make sure, that the sticking point is not immunity for contractors-that was taken out of the agreement some time ago, not a sticking point. But, what Condi said was a red line do not cross-and Maliki reportedly said the same(this is a very hot item currently on Military blogs) is all about IMMUNITY FOR US TROOPS, not for contractors-check it out.
Frankly, speaking just for myself, having spent 28 years either in or around US military in 16 different countries, I have to say that in no country that I was in or even heard about did a SOFA(status of forces agreement-all troops in country are briefed constantly on this, and everyone carries a pocket copy on a laminated card, so everyone is aware of what can and can not be done to them) allow the locals to arrest and detain-WITHOUT AGREEMENT from the local US commander-any american troops. This could be a deal breaker if no one caves in. Now there are american military people in prison in Japan, Korea, The Philippines, and Thailand ,(I mention asian countries, because I am most familiar with those countries, having spent years in them) it was because these people committed murder, rape, or other serious crimes. But the locals arranged with the soldiers commander to pick up the soldier, and an american representive was present all the way thru trial-and they are visited on a schedule by americans from the embassy. So this blog, while a good way to raise umbrage, is not in fact the truth. I urge the writer to check the stories again, because they were speaking about the armed forces of the US, not companies like Blackwater. Frankly, I expected much better from FireDogLake than this..

dammit. no one said it yet today?

I. M. P. E. A. C. H.

It’s what’s for democracy.

Got a link for that?

McClatchy reports:

U.S. troops would be immune from Iraqi law while they were on their bases, but when moving outside the bases their actions would be subject to American and Iraqi military jurisdiction.

Well, first of all — the article cited here is CNN. And contractors are part of the hold up. It’s not just about US troops. From McClatchy:

The deal still must be approved by Maliki, other officials and the parliament, a process fraught with potential problems. The senior official said that Maliki already had expressed concern that the agreement wasn’t strong enough, from the Iraqi perspective, on when Americans, including private contractors, would be subject to Iraqi law.

al-Maliki should just tell Rice to take a hike. He should do as the Bush Administration is doing, just run out the clock until January and he can get a fair arrangement from Barack Obama and his Sec. of State.