Iraq Wants Changes to U.S Exit Plan

Oct. 21, 2008 — -- The United States has agreed to a firm deadline for withdrawing combat troops from Iraq that does not depend on security conditions on the ground, according to a copy of an agreement reached recently and obtained by ABC News.

Despite the concession from the United States, the Iraqi Cabinet announced today it wants to ask for additional changes to the plan.

President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed off on the Status of Forces in recent weeks, but it is still subject to approval by Iraq's Cabinet and eventually the parliament, where it faces significant opposition.

Iraq's Cabinet met Tuesday and said in a statement afterward that it would seek unspecified amendments to the agreement.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen urged the Iraqis to accept the deal.

"Clearly, we are running out of time," he said on his way to meetings with Russian military leaders in Finland. "It's time for the Iraqis to make a decision."

Mullen also expressed concerns that Iran was pressuring Iraq not to accept the deal, saying that Tehran was "working very hard to ensure this does not pass."

The plan defines the scope of U.S. troop activity in Iraq and provides a legal framework for their presence there once the current U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year. If approved in time, the three-year deal would go into effect Jan. 1, 2009.

U.S. negotiators had pushed for the deal to include language that would make withdrawal dates subject to security conditions on the ground; however, the final text makes no mention of a conditions-based withdrawal.

Instead it stipulates that U.S. combat troops be out of Iraq by the end of 2011 and out of Iraq's cities, towns and villages before July.

According to the text, the only way U.S. combat troops could stay beyond 2011 would be at the invitation of the Iraqi government. It does, however, allow for U.S. military trainers and advisers to stay longer if agreed to by both sides.

The question of how long the United States should stay in Iraq has been a central debate during the presidential campaign.

Barack Obama has pushed for a withdrawal according to a timeline, while his opponent John McCain has argued that any withdrawal should be subject to the security needs in Iraq. As written, though, it would appear that the actual text is closer to Obama's proposal than McCain's.

U.S. and Iraqi negotiators also clashed over whose legal jurisdiction would prosecute U.S. soldiers accused of crimes in Iraq.

According to the text of the deal, a compromise was reached, allowing the United States to try its soldiers for crimes committed on U.S. bases while carrying out official missions. Iraqi courts would have jurisdiction over soldiers who committed crimes while off duty and outside the base.