it's official, the u.s. is obligated to be completely out of iraq in 3 years and it must remove all combat forces from iraqi cities by june 30, 2009. it also gives iraqi commanders a large say in american military operations, subjects american contractors to iraqi law, and also u.s. soldiers in some circumstances as well.
i'm really curious to see what actually happens when something happens that gives the u.s. the choice of whether to abide by the limits of the agreement. for example, the next time an american contractor shoots someone. and i wonder who will still be in baghdad on july 1, 2009. because the bush administration does not consider the SOFA to be a treaty, it won't submit it to congress for ratification. so technically, it's just a sole executive agreement under u.s. law. which means that it is binding but that president obama could "unsign" it at will.
however the iraqis probably will treat it as binding on the u.s. so it would could cause a world of trouble if the u.s. didn't comply with it. we'll see what actually happens.
