SOFA Passes Iraqi Cabinet

The Iraqi Cabinet has voted 27-1 in support of the Status Of Forces Agreement with the United States, which includes allowing US forces to remain in Iraq until 2011. While there were some 100 amendments made to the agreement before the cabinet voted, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s backing of it is most likely one of the reasons that it received the almost unanimous support that it did. The legislation now goes to the Iraqi Parliament where it will be deliberated, and where many believe that it will receive opposition more reflective of actual Iraqi public sentiment.

While pro-war pundits will view this vote as an “I told you so”, the truth is that popular public sentiment does not support the occupation, not to mention the fact that highly influential groups, such as that of Moqtada al-Sadr and the Association of Muslim Scholars, oppose the SOFA.