Iraqi leaders demand timetable for troop withdrawal
[brackets are mine]
By Agence France Presse
11/21/05 "AFP" -- -- CAIRO - Iraqi leaders reached a tentative [?] agreement Monday to demand a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from
their war-torn country during talks [this is what they want]ahead of a reconciliation conference to be held next year. [this idea is for future
consideration]
Dozens of leaders representing most [not all] of Iraq's factions have been holding tough talks in Cairo since Saturday in a bid to reach a common
agenda. [we need something to rally around]
In a draft[?] final statement [no way can this be their last word], a
copy of which was obtained by AFP, they demanded [tentative
agreement?] "a timetable for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops".
The draft also advocates [i.e. we added] "immediately setting up a national programme to rebuild the armed forces in a way that will allow them to
control the security situation and put an end to terrorist operations". [hey: we need a reason to stay there - we're training their forces]
Iraq's disempowered Sunni community had long made the timetable one of its main demands before returning to the political arena. [so? - screw the
Sunnis right?]
But the current government [i.e. US]
-- dominated by the Shiite and Kurdish communities formerly oppressed by Saddam Hussein's ousted regime
[that's why we're on their side]
-- has so far stressed that a hasty troop withdrawal would plunge the country into chaos. [re-read that
without the intervening phrase between the dashes and think about why it was added]
The United States, which leads the coalition of foreign forces occupying Iraq, has consistently said it would not stay indefinitely in Iraq but
refused to announce a timetable. [don't worry we're not staying - and we're here as long as we damn well please]
The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad [that's the US talking] said Monday it was "possible to begin adjusting our forces downwards, meaning
begin to withdraw, some forces beginning next year".
But he warned that a total pullout by November 2006 would be premature. [i.e. we will still be there for next year's conference - screw the Sunnis
right?]
"I think a total withdrawal of US forces by then is unrealistic. I don't think the Iraqis will be ready to completely take over the mission by
themselves by that time," he said on CNN television. [nope no way could they agree to stop killing each other in exchange for the US leaving].
Apart from discussing the withdrawal of foreign troops, [stop thinking about this now] the planned reconciliation conference [next year when we're
still there] aims to lessen the ongoing insurgency by expanding political dialogue. [now back to our regularly scheduled program: "the
insurgency"]
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram that a large part of the
insurgency could be won over if a common political
agenda was agreed at the Cairo talks. [common agenda? like US withdrawal? - not acceptable - fighting the insurgency must be the only common
agenda]
"A success of the Cairo talks will allow us to ... bring the resistance of the Arab nationalists to an end," he said. [the US puppet obliges, after
all he's no Arab nationalist! American Nationalism is the only way to go!]
But Iraq's most feared insurgent group, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has rejected any dialogue [the boogie man
appears - and he's one of them sneaky Jordanians at that!], saying the "sword and blood" were the only ways forward [and the US will, of course,
oblige].
© 2005 Agence France Presse
How do
you read between the lines?
.
[edit on 11/21/2005 by Gools]