The Iraqi Prime Minister has Signaled He’s Discussing “a Short-term Memorandum of Understanding” Over U.S. Bases

Over the weekend, “large crowds of Shiites” in Iraq gathered to protest the long-term security agreement that the U.S. and Iraq governments are currently debating, shouting, “No, no to colonization! Out, out you occupier!” With widespread opposition to the original long-term security pact — which would grant nearly 60 permanent military bases to American troops — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signaled today that he’s discussing “a short-term memorandum of understanding” which “would keep U.S. troops in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.”

Notably, Maliki’s proposal “includes a formula for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.”

Allies of the Bush administration had previously dismissed the Iraqis’ fierce opposition to the security pact. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) claimed the anger “is a sign of our success in Iraq, which is that Iraq now has a sovereign, independent, self-government.” Bush agreed, claiming the opposition was proof of Iraq’s “vibrant democracy,” and White House Press Secretary Dana Perino insisted it was a “very positive thing” that Iraqis were “using politics and the press as a way to get their message out.”

This material was created for the Progress Report, the daily e-mail publication of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

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