Iraq has determined, given the progress in purging the Islamo Fascists associated with al-Qaeda, that the US presence in Iraq can be dialed back at the end of 2008:

The Iraqi Cabinet agreed Tuesday to ask the United Nations to extend the authorization for U.S.-led forces in Iraq through the end of next year, but it will be the last time, officials said.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said last week that his government would ask the U.N. Security Council for the last time to renew the mandate that has given the United States and its partners sweeping powers in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion.

The chief government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the Cabinet had formally approved that decision.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Philip Reeker welcomed the move.

“This is a very positive process,” he said at a news conference. “Iraq is increasingly able to stand on its own but will not have to stand alone.”

The Cabinet move came a week after al-Maliki’s administration and the United States signed a set of principles for future cooperation between the two countries as the U.S. military begins to draw down forces.

That set the stage for negotiations between the United States and Iraq on a new security formula, including the number of troops remaining here and the legal framework under which they will operate.

That agreement is scheduled to be reached by July 31, 2008, when the Iraqi government will present it to parliament for ratification, al-Maliki. That agreement would eventually replace the present U.N. mandate regulating the presence of the U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

Want reconciliation? We have that too!

Sunni Arab lawmakers ended a yearlong boycott of politics in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, after the Kurdish majority agreed to allot one-third of government jobs to Arabs and appoint an Arab as deputy governor. The move helps mend a rift here between Arabs and Kurds, months before the province is set to vote on whether it will join Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region to the north or continue to be governed by Baghdad. Much of Iraq’s vast oil wealth lies under the ground in Kirkuk, and the province is coveted by Kurdish and Arab parties.

Now that Iraq and the Bush administration and our military leaders have determined the proper time for the transition of the US role in Iraq to one of ally to the self governing Iraqi state the Dems in Congress can get off their behinds and fund our troops! This again points to the fact you don’t need legislation to do the right thing. We clearly are on a glide path to success and Iraq is doing its part. Instead of giving the troops a Merry “Scrooge You”! with the funding the Congress could send a signal of thanks for all the sacrifice and good work and support their path to SUCCESS! We don’t need to yank them home and ‘declare success’. We can actually help the finish the job and ACHIEVE success!

What a concept! As the commercials say “less talk, more action”. Why declare when we can achieve?