American and Iraqi leaders are finalising a security pact that promises to bring the curtain down on the US occupation. Although some details have yet to be worked out, the Bush administration has bowed to Iraqi pressure for a troop withdrawal timetable.
Iraqi officials are claiming the so-called status of forces agreement will remove US combat troops from Iraqi cities by June and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011. The US calls these dates "aspirational goals" that will depend on the security situation. Still, only a month ago the Bush administration was furiously opposed to a time-table, insisting it would reflect an admission of defeat and play into the hands of its enemies.
