Bush team pushes hard for US-Iraq security deal

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Bush administration has launched a furious lobbying campaign to win support from skeptical US lawmakers and hostile Iraqi politicians for a security agreement governing the presence of American troops in Iraq. Although congressional approval is not legally required, lawmakers' support is considered crucial for an agreement to go forward. So top Bush aides have begun working on crucial members of the House of Representatives and Senate to make the case for the draft accord, which includes a time line for US withdrawal by 2012 and a crucial but unpopular and potentially controversial compromise that gives Iraq limited ability to try US contractors or soldiers for major crimes committed off-duty and off-base, officials said Thursday. Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, who are running for president and sit on Senate committees that deal with the issue, were among those being briefed on the proposal by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Officials could not say whether that already happened. Neither candidate has signaled a position on the draft in campaign appearances. In their debate Wednesday, McCain made only a fleeting reference to it. "We're now about to have an agreement for status of forces in Iraq coming up," he said, without further comment.