From: John Cuccia 

On Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:59:58 +0100, Ad
 wrote:

>http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=20917
>
>Ah well at least reality is starting to permeate the strata of ideology.
>
>" US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday the United States is
>looking to a long-term military presence in Iraq under a mutually agreed
>arrangement similar to that it has long had with South Korea.

Yep.  Add this, too.  It appears that  we're finally beginning to realize
that we have to deal with the Iraq we've got, and not the Iraq we wish we
had:
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17306275.htm
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military is seeking talks with Shiite Muslim
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr directly and through the government of Iraq,
according to a top American general.

A Sadr aide confirmed that U.S. officials had approached the anti-American
cleric's supporters but said that Sadr would never begin a dialogue with
what they describe as "occupation forces."

"He has a grass-roots movement that he's always going to have; we have
to recognize that," Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the second-ranking
American commander in Iraq, told McClatchy Newspapers in an interview this
week. "We're trying to talk to him. We want to talk to him."

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