Obama's Presidential Victory And It's Impact On Iraq

An American soldier in Baghdad on Thursday. Some Iraqi politicians say an American-Iraqi security pact may soon be ready. Joao Silva for The New York Times

Obama Victory Alters the Tenor of Iraqi Politics
-- New York Times

BAGHDAD — Barack Obama may have been elected only three days ago, but his victory is already beginning to shift the political ground in Iraq and the region.

Iraqi Shiite politicians are indicating that they will move faster toward a new security agreement about American troops, and a Bush administration official said he believed that Iraqis could ratify the agreement as early as the middle of this month.

“Before, the Iraqis were thinking that if they sign the pact, there will be no respect for the schedule of troop withdrawal by Dec. 31, 2011,” said Hadi al-Ameri, a powerful member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a major Shiite party. “If Republicans were still there, there would be no respect for this timetable. This is a positive step to have the same theory about the timetable as Mr. Obama.”

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My Comment: Everything is now going to move fast on the ground. The Americans are now definitely going home .... a fact that Iraqis are now finally realizing and accepting.