Thanks to the Bush/Cheney lies the US has occupied Iraq for more than five years now, and it still stumbles and bumbles in the sinkhole that it created.

From McClatchy news: "Senior Iraqi government officials said Saturday that a U.S. Special Forces counterterrorism unit conducted the raid that reportedly killed a relative of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, touching off a high-stakes diplomatic crisis between the United States and Iraq.

"U.S. military officials in Baghdad had no comment for the second day in a row, an unusual position for a command that typically releases information on combat operations within 24 hours.

" 'We are afraid now of signing the long-term pact between Iraq and America because of such unjustified violations by the troops. Handing over security in provinces doesn't mean anything to the American troops,' said Mohamed Hussein al Musawi, a senior Najaf-based member of the prime minister's Dawa Party. 'We condemn these barbaric actions not only when they target a relative of Maliki's, but when any Iraqi is targeted in the same way.'

"Outrage over the mysterious operation has spread to the highest levels of the Iraqi government, which is demanding an explanation for how such a raid occurred in a province ostensibly under full Iraqi command.

" 'This is a Special Forces operation, an antiterrorism unit that operates almost independently so there's been no coordination with the local forces on the ground,' said a high-ranking member of the Iraqi government who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the extreme sensitivity of the issue. 'That's why it's so important to have a Status of Forces Agreement to regulate this relationship. As long as it's vague and open, these incidents will continue to happen.'

"U.S. and Iraqi officials have been in difficult negotiations to draft a Status of Forces Agreement. Among the main sticking points are whether the U.S. military can stage combat operations without the consent of the Iraqi government and whether to grant immunity to American troops and security contractors.

"Kurdish legislator Mahmoud Othman called Friday's operation "unacceptable" and had strained relations between the countries.

" 'This is a big embarrassment for Prime Minister Maliki because he was in that area two days before the incident, telling his people that we are the masters in our country and the decisions were ours to make,' Othman said. 'This is why we are afraid of agreements and immunity. ... If there are wanted people in any area, why not send an Iraqi force to do the job?' "

A Bushite pre-emptive invasion and occupation of Iraq based on lies that practically destroyed the country and the US is still there more than five years later.  Perhaps the Iraqis will finally tell the US to leave.