The bargaining in Baghdad is getting serious as Iraqis pressure the Bush Administration for last-minute concessions on a status-of-forces agreement to sanction US presence beyond the end of the year.
But the American election and Bush’s imminent departure have changed the game. Gone is the McCain mantra of “victory with honor,” a prescription for open-ended American presence, and what’s left is only haggling over details about the pace of troop withdrawal and how much control Iraqis will assume over security efforts in the meantime.