Maliki asserts Iraqi Sovereignty; UK troops forced to leave by Christmas

So Maliki's hand has been forced by Sistani et al. One of the two hands that feeds him is being bitten and there is nothing the US can do about it. Maliki is going to reject the security pact. The Coalition of the Willing will have not UN backing for remaining in Iraq after the end of 2008. This matters not one whit for the White House, as the US has not signed up to the ICC. Britain has and Britain will declare a victory in Basra and scuttle home. Iraq is asserting its sovereignty. It will not be a US puppet. This development is going to have real ramifications for the stability of Iraq, the intra-Shia civil war, the Sunni-Kurd issue of Kirkuk, Iran's role in the country, and America's continued presence. If Sistani doesn't want them there it and is open about this, and he is becoming more public, the Shia leadership is going to have to take notice. This will swing popular support around the most anti-US group. American policy, if it even has a coherent political as opposed to military policy, is in dire straights. This will have ramifications for the Presidential Election. It just depends if anybody notices. It appears Krauthammer hasn't. He still wants McCain to fight the election of the "successes" of Iraq. Deluded.