U.S. Troop levels in Iraq to remain stable until at least 2010.

As this announcement from the Department of Defense shows there will in effect be no net withdrawal of troops from Iraq for the rest of 2009. There are still some casualties each month while in Afghanistan casualties are increasing rapidly. The American people continue to pay a high price for their Imperial adventures but then some people and companies profit.
There is no mention that the force levels might be influenced by any decisions the Iraqis might make and that includes a scheduled referendum on the SOFA to take place soon unless the U.S. manages to convince the Maliki govt. to delay it.


This is from defenselink:


DoD Announces Upcoming Operation Iraqi Freedom Rotation


The Department of Defense announced today additional major units scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The announcement involves three division headquarters and eight brigade combat teams consisting of approximately 30,000 personnel.



These units will replace redeploying units, with no increase in overall force levels. The deployment window for these units will begin in the fall and continue into early 2010.



This announcement reflects the continued commitment of the United States to the security of the Iraqi people, and provides replacement forces required to maintain the current level of effort in Iraq. Subsequent deployment orders will be issued based on force level decisions made in the future

Despite cabinet statement, Iraq Referendum Delay Considered Unlikely

Actually I expect the opposite is the case. The referendum could very well fail, especially since the U.S. is obviously intending to stay in Iraq for years to come with troops in supposedly non-combat roles and also the US has already negotiated exceptions re staying in cities as in the case of Sadr City. No doubt the parliament will make a huge fuss if the vote scheduled for July is postponed but to no avail probably. The parliament seems unable to do much of anything. The oil law is still waiting in the wings and this was a benchmark for progress! The media did not seem to even notice this! Meanwhile the Kurds have their own law and are going full speed ahead.


Despite Cabinet Statement, Iraq Referendum Delay Considered Unlikely
"The Date Was an Essential Part of the Security Agreement," MPs Insist
by Jason Ditz, June 10, 2009

Though yesterday the Iraqi cabinet announced that it intended to delay the referendum on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) until January of next year “to save time and money,” members of the Iraqi parliament say that the delay is unlikely and the government is moving ahead under the assumption that the vote will happen as originally planned at the end of July.
“The date was an essential part of the security agreement” one member of the ruling Dawa Party noted, and indeed the promise of the referendum was likely the only way the government managed to win narrow passage of the unpopular SOFA in the first place.
The referendum was demanded chiefly by the pact’s Sunni opponents, and even though the cabinet seems inclined to delay the vote as long as possible the date change would face a rough road through parliament, who would have to sign off on any delay.
The SOFA, which provides the legal basis for the US military presence in the nation through the end of 2011, has been roundly criticized by the Sunni bloc as well as influential Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The referendum will likely be a very difficult sale in the nation and its defeat could pose a serious challenge to the Obama Administration, which intends to keep troops in the nation indefinitely