Iraqi Troops Can Handle Security Says Maliki

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki assures the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that U.S. troops are no longer needed in Iraq. “Iraqi troops were able to maintain security and law and order, and this is a result of joint efforts,” he says. (0:30)
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Iraq Wants UN Sanctions Lifted Says Maliki

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki expresses his "strong desire" for the removal of UN Chapter 7 sanctions imposed on Iraq. “Iraq now does not represent any threat to peace and security,” he says. (0:23)
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Iraq transition being considered for new president, says expert

Colin Kahl, a professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, explains that there is likely not going to be a long term Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq, or a renewal of the UN mandate. He says that the Iraqi government is “kicking the can down the road” to the next administration to negotiate a long term agreement. Kahl also says that in the last few weeks comments have been made by Nouri al-Maliki’s spokesperson that suggest he’s looking for some definitive sense that the U.S. will make a transition to a new role and substantially reduced presence in Iraq. (1:18)
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Iraq willing to walk away from deal with Bush Administration, expert says

Marc Lynch, a professor of International Affairs at the Elliot School of International Affairs, says that Nouri al-Maliki is in a very unusual political position in Iraq. Lynch says that the word being “bandied about” in the Iraqi and Arab press is the idea of a new mandate over Iraq, something Maliki “cannot live with.” Lynch says that Maliki has gotten a better understanding of what Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) position really is, and has become very comfortable with it. (1:45)
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