US, Iraq Security Deal Dies

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency, according to senior U.S. officials, effectively leaving talks over an extended U.S. military presence there to the next administration. In place of the formal status-of-forces agreement negotiators had hoped to complete by July 31, the two governments are now working on a "bridge" document, more limited in both time and scope, that would allow basic U.S. military operations to continue beyond the expiration of a U.N. mandate at the end of the year. The most contentious unresolved issue is the legal immunity of U.S. troops and Defense Department personnel from Iraqi prosecution for any alleged crime. "We're trying to come onto the same page," a second U.S. official close to the negotiations said. "But with U.S. forces in potential combat situations, we have some real bottom lines.

Also at issue is Iraq's insistence on a timetable for US withdrawal. I knew it -- if Iraq asked Bush to leave, he'd refuse. Troops will stay in Iraq until Bush is safely out of office, then some other poor schmuck can take the blame for "losing Iraq."

Sovereign nation, my ass.