Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq, said yesterday that his country wants some type of timetable for a withdrawal of American troops included in the deal Iraq is currently negotiating with America.

Some type of agreement is needed to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year’s end. However, many Iraqi lawmakers had criticized the government’s attempt to negotiate a formal status of forces agreement, worried that U.S. demands would threaten the country’s sovereignty.

The goal is to end the presence (of foreign troops),” al-Maliki said.

According to Iraqi national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi government is proposing a timetable conditioned on the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security.

The U.S. should get out of Iraq as soon as the Iraqi Government can provide competent security without our help. Regardless of the overall mission achievability, we simply cannot keep sacrificing our brave young men’s lives indefinitely, as well as billions of dollars (or 600 billion, to be exact). Even if it is somewhat chaotic after we leave, we should not overstay our welcome there. Moreover, we should not continue to have a presence in Iraq, if the Iraqi Government wants us to leave. Let’s put it simply: we are currently fighting in Iraq in support of the “new” Iraqi Government. Thus, if the Iraqi Government asks us to leave, should we not leave? After all, is this not the very reason we are fighting? To establish their government as legitimate? To create a “democracy in the Middle East,” in order to, “stabilize the region”? We cannot ask the world to recognize Iraq as sovereign, if we are not willing to do so ourselves.