Iraqi vote marks timetable for exit

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 28, 2008

BAGHDAD — The long, costly story of American military involvement in Iraq moved closer to an end Thursday when Iraq’s parliament approved a pact that requires all troops to be out in three years, marking a clear timetable for a U.S. exit since the 2003 invasion. U.S. forces will withdraw from Iraqi towns and cities by June 30 and the entire country by Jan. 1, 2012.

The vote for the security deal followed months of tough talks between U.S. and Iraqi negotiators that at times seemed on the point of collapse, and then days of hardscrabble dealmaking between ethnic and sectarian groups whose centuries-old rifts had hardened during the first four years of the war.

The war has claimed more than 4,200 American lives and eroded the global stature of the U.S.

Now an end is in sight, and U.S. troops could leave sooner if President-elect Barack Obama makes good on a plan to pull out combat troops within 16 months of moving into the White House in January.

Some troops are likely to redeploy to face an insurgency that has expanded in Afghanistan as attacks have diminished in Iraq, where the U.S. believes Iraqi forces are better able to fend for themselves.

The security deal must now be ratified by the three-member Presidential Council, which is expected to approve it.

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