Sticking point: immunity for troops

The U.S. is abandoning plans to keep its troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline.

The decision to pull out fully by January will effectively bring to a close the invasion that the U.S. launched eight years ago, despite ongoing concerns about Iraq's security forces and the potential for instability.

The decision ends months of hand-wringing by U.S. officials over whether to stick to a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline that was set in 2008 or negotiate a new security agreement.

In recent months, Washington had been discussing with Iraqi leaders the possibility of several thousand U.S. troops remaining to continue training Iraqi security forces. A Pentagon spokesman said Saturday that no final decision has been reached about the U.S. training relationship with the Iraqi government.

But a senior Obama administration official in Washington confirmed Saturday that all U.S. troops will leave Iraq except for about 160 active-duty soldiers attached to the American Embassy.

A senior U.S. military official confirmed the departure and said the withdrawal could allow future but limited U.S. military training missions in Iraq if requested.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Sticking point: immunity for troops

Throughout the discussions, the United States has demanded that its troops be granted immunity from Iraqi courts, which Iraq's leaders say they do not have the parliamentary support to push through. The U.S. has refused to stay without it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/10/15/united-states-withdra...