“Bush, Maliki Sign Pact on Iraq's Future”

"President Bush reached a deal yesterday that is intended to lead to a more normalized, long-term relationship between the United States and Iraq by the time he leaves office, but it left unsettled the question of how many and how long U.S. forces would remain”.

"The basic message here should be clear: Iraq is increasingly able to stand on its own," said Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, Bush's top Iraq adviser. "That's very good news. But it won't have to stand alone."

Washington Post, November 27, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/26/AR2007112600649.html

As the second term of Bush’s presidency is coming to an end, he has increased his negotiations with Iraqi officials in order to pacify the situation. The Iraqi war that started nearly four and a half years ago has caused too many protests among Americans. They are more increasingly asking for an end to the presence of American soldiers in Iraq, seeing it as an absurd thing that leads but to death and depression. They don’t want their beloved ones to sacrifice their lives for nothing. Besides, they believe that if the budget that is being spent on military actions in Iraq was spent on domestic issues, it would have led to better results.
But it’s not just the American people that want America out of Iraq. Many countries and many international organizations are now raising this question that when American troops will leave Iraq. Under such pressures, American officials have held gathering and conferences seeking the help and advice of countries specially neighbors. All of these had no or little results. As President Bush has stated in this news, America is not going to leave Iraq now, instead they want to leave gradually and not to let Iraq to its own completely. But these pressures have at least forced American officials to negotiate with their Iraqi counterparts with a less sense of leadership. May be we can say that they have accepted to give some power, however little, to Iraqis themselves to take hold of their country. They want to show that they would have the Iraqis’ consent also. By continuing the military presence in Iraq, President Bush is drawing many criticisms to himself. Through such negotiations he may be trying to leave the office making some kind of “peace with honor” in Iraq.