US opposes Iraqi popular vote on troop withdrawal

[Love As Arson]

Indeed, President Barack Obama’s decision to fight the court-ordered release of sealed photographic evidence of US military personnel torturing Iraqi prisoners was based in part on its potential impact on the referendum, should it be held.

General David Petraeus, top commander of US troops in the Middle East and Central Asia, on May 28 made a filing with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals warning that should the photos be released, “pressure will mount on the prime minister to allow for a national referendum on the Security Agreement and the Strategic Framework Agreement.” General Raymond Odierno, US commander in Iraq, also submitted a filing, writing that “the release of the photos may incite the Iraqi public and cause the referendum to be defeated.

http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/iraq-j13.shtml

[Praetor]

Wasn't a potential referendum part of the agreement that the US and Iraq made?

[Love As Arson]

Wasn't a potential referendum part of the agreement that the US and Iraq made?
"A large majority of Iraq’s parliament approved the security pact, the Status of Forces Agreement, with the US last year, but attenuated it with additional legislation, including a measure that stipulated a national referendum be held on the agreement. The measure, what the Times calls a “little remarked upon, but potent poison pill,” was added as a means of appeasing massive popular hatred of the US occupation."

[open mind]

judging by the lack of discussion in this thread i'd say this course of events suprises no one.