Security pact faces vote today
IRAQ AND THE WAR ON TERRORISM

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 16, 2008

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Cabinet will vote today on a security pact with Washington. The plan would keep U.S. forces in the country for three more years.

In a bid to secure support from the country’s top Shiite cleric, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dispatched two senior lawmakers to see Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

The cleric said the pact represented "the best available option.” He indicated he would not object to it if the Cabinet and, later, parliament approve it.

The U.N. mandate covering presence of foreign forces in Iraq expires Dec. 31, and Iraq would need a renewal of that if the U.S. security pact isn’t OK’d.

If the Cabinet passes the draft agreement, the parliament could follow suit because the political blocs in al-Maliki’s government dominate the legislature.

Your thoughts!