The media is still not covering what Philip J. Crowley, US State Department spokesperson declared:
"Well, we have a Status of Forces Agreement and a strategic framework. The Status of Forces Agreement expires at the end of next year, and we are working towards complete fulfillment of that Status of Forces Agreement, which would include the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of next year. The nature of our partnership beyond next year will have to be negotiated. On the civilian side, we are committed to Iraq over the long term. We will have civilians there continuing to work with the government on a range of areas – economic development, rule of law, civil society, and so forth. But to the extent that Iraq desires to have an ongoing military-to-military relationship with the United States in the future, that would have to be negotiated. And that would be something that I would expect a new government to consider. [. . .] Should Iraq wish to continue the kind of military partnership that we currently have with Iraq, we're open to have that discussion."
As Kat notes in the roundtable, last week, she, Wally, Ava and C.I. were told in DC by a Pentagon correspondent that the statement wasn't "news" because 'everybody knows' that the US government wants to renegotiate the Status Of Forces Agreement.
Everybody knows?
That would certainly be news to many of the people who regularly write us angry e-mails 'correcting' us that the SOFA does mean the end of the Iraq War and that it can't be renegotiated. It would also be news to the people who turn on their TVs and, when Iraq is mentioned, are quickly informed that all US forces will be out of Iraq at the end of 2011.
Everybody knows?
