Meanwhile back in Iraq
 

Iraq repeats insistence on fixed withdrawal date

Baghdad appears to be leveraging Obama's election to pressure Bush

 

BAGHDAD, Nov. 6 - Two days after the election of Barack Obama, Iraq's chief spokesman said with unusual forcefulness Thursday that his government will continue to insist on a firm withdrawal date for U.S. troops, despite American demands that any pullout be subject to prevailing security conditions.

"Iraqis would like to know and see a fixed date," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in an interview in which he also reiterated Iraq's position that American forces be subject to Iraqi legal jurisdiction in some instances.

Iraqi officials, who see President-elect Obama's views on the timing of a U.S. withdrawal as consonant with their own, appear to be leveraging his election to pressure the Bush administration to make last-minute concessions. Dabbagh said negotiations to reach a status-of-forces agreement, which would sanction the U.S. military presence in Iraq beyond 2008, would collapse if no deal is reached by the end of this month.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27585543/

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{ In spite of our fascination with the election and it's aftermath the struggle for Iraq goes on.

"Dabbagh said negotiations to reach a status-of-forces agreement, which would sanction the U.S. military presence in Iraq beyond 2008, would collapse if no deal is reached by the end of this month."

What is the custom { if any} between a sitting President and a President Elect in regard to important issues that will affect the latter when he takes over the White House? Will Bush include Obama in any decisions made concerning Iraq's future? Will Bush try and make treaties with the Iraqi government that will virtually tie Obama's hands? Does a sitting President have any obligation to include a President Elect in anything?}