On Iraq, part three

This is an op-ed from Rep. Conyers, published in USA Today.

While the wisest course of action would have been to avoid this costly conflict entirely, we must, at the very least, honor the Status of Forces Agreement entered into by the U.S. and the Iraqi governments in November 2008. It states that the U.S. will remove its combat troops by the end of this August, followed by the removal of all U.S. forces from the country by Dec. 31, 2011.

All parties, political and otherwise, currently operating in Iraq are relying on the U.S. to follow through on this mutually negotiated troop removal timeline. The fledgling government in Baghdad has derived much of its legitimacy from the Iraqi people by appearing to stand up to the American occupation and by providing internal security independent of U.S. forces.