Exit Iraq

Kevin Drum cites a WSJ article indicating that an agreement is in place for American combat troops to leave in 2011.

The NYT, on the other hand, indicates that that little detail -- along with immunity for American troops* -- remain "sticking points."

In Baghdad, Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq’s foreign minister, said that the text of a draft had been agreed upon by negotiators on the technical and legal teams who had worked on it since March 11. But he cautioned that this fell short of a final agreement because it had yet to be approved by the political leadership in either country, including Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

“Both sides have reached the conclusion that there is no need for any further negotiations. A draft agreement is there. It is now a political decision,” he said in Baghdad.

He declined to say whether it addressed timelines for a withdrawal of troops or immunity for American servicemen.

But, as Kevin ponders what, if true, this means in terms of American politics, he believes that as this is all taking place under a Republican president, the GOP won't in turn be able to say the American military was "stabbed in the back" by liberal anti-war activists. To which I can only respond with one word: Vietnam. There, too, our departure was engineered under a Republican president and with bipartisan support, but that hasn't stopped the dolchstosslegende ever since.

* And what of security contractors?