If you wake up early in the morning and your chicken starts chasing you threatening to bite, be weary. It might have growned teeth overnight.

But the opposition led by Moqtada Al Sadr has launched a series of mass protest to force the American Army to quit immediately rather than in over three years the Government ultimatum provides.

The seeming toughness of the Iraqi government, its boldness to give the Americans an ultimatum and declaring that this is not negotiable, is all a ruse. Yes, the puppet government has grown teeth overnight and is threatening to bite its American owners, but the fact is that this is false teeth. They are artificial teeth fixed by members of the out-going George Bush administration. The plan is to tie the hands of the in-coming Barrack Obama Administration.

First, let us examine the "ultimatum’’ and its seriousness. It provides that in January 2009, the Iraqi government will take over control of the country’s air space. This probably  indicates that the government wants to be told or agree, before the Americans use the Iraqi air space to attack targets in or outside the country.

But the fact is that a government that does not own its own independent airforce and is a puppet of a foreign country, cannot control its air space.

The Americans control the Iraqi airports and provide security for the government itself to function from the green zone. So how can the government control anything?

The second provision is that by June 2009, all United States troops will withdraw from Iraqi streets to military bases. But how does this stop American Military operations across the Iraqi territory? The simple issue is that the Iraqi government is asking the Americans to hand over police duties and house-to-house searches to local troops and focus on major operations.

A third demand is that, American Soldiers should be accountable under Iraqi laws. This is laughable. Yes, American troops commit attrocities including in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But Americans never allow foreign governments to try their troops or even citizens for that matter. The U.S. even refuses to sign up to International Conventions which would make its troops accountable for acts against humanity. So this is a mere impotent declaration.

The major provision in the ultimatum is that by December 2011, all U.S. troops must leave Iraq except those that would be responsible to protect "American’’ interests.

The question is, how many divisions of these foreign troops would be left to protect these interests? In any case, what are the American interests? Do they include Companies scattered around Iraq and interests in the oil and iraqi economy? If so, then the American troops would continue to maintain      bases across Iraq after December 2011 rather than quitting.

The whole "ultimatum’’ and agreement to withdraw is simply a farce. It is intended to tie the hands of the Obama administration while trying to give the immpression that the puppet regime in Iraq has suddenly become independent minded.

The Iraqi government "ultimatum’’ is a huge joke. It wants American troops to quit the country in the next thirty eight months while Obama wants to withdraw U.S. troops within the next eighteen months. If the Iraqi government truthfully wants the American invaders to leave Iraq, why not align its ultimatum with that of the in coming Obama administration? The trick is actually to tie American troops down in Iraq as the Government would collapse within days of the withdrawal of American troops.

It is not clear how much the agreement between Bush and the Iraqi government will be binding on the Obama government. But what is clear is that beset with local and economic problems that threaten the very existence of its capitalist system and other local challenges, Obama does not want to be diverted by the Iraqi crises.

After five years of American and European troop occupation, Iraq remains a security nightmare. Its lawlessness is unimaginable and its internal social relations quite complex. Obama wisely thinks he should not inherit the Bush albatross. First he knows that the reasons for the invasion of Iraq which included claims that it had weapons of mass destruction, are false.

Secondly, Obama is smart enough to know that the Bush family and Vice President Dick Cheney’s interest in Iraqi oil were partly the reason for the invasion. Also, he must have realised that the need for huge markets for the American war industry might have influenced the decision to invade Iraq. Also, Obama knows that the experimentation of privatizing the American Military is partly to blame for the war. Not being part of this conspiracy, an intelligent Obama would see no reason why his government should not bail out of Iraq.

He must have realised that unless urgent steps are taken to leave, America can be caught in the Iraqi quagmire for the next fifty years. It might still have been bogged down in Vietnam but for the American military defeat in that country. On the other hand, its quick intervention in Korea has meant it being bogged down in that country for almost sixty years now.

Iraq was not a perfect country before the American invasion five years ago. It had a dictatorship which ironically the Americans had helped strengthen in a vain attempt to reverse the Iranian revolution. Like many other countries, Iraq under Saddam Hussien was not a perfect society, but it was a country with the capacity to secure its borders, provide security in the streets and social services. Iraq made strides in education, energy supply and development of its citizenry.

But the Americans arrived tearing through the desert, and put a knife on the rope that bound the Iraqi country. The invaders started off by blaming a section of the populace, the Sunnis for every imaginable problem in the country. It then embarked on the systematic execution of Sunni leaders from Saddam Hussein down, while purging the government and public service of Sunnis, no matter how bright they are.

On the other hand, it befriended the Shiites, delibrately encouraged them to take over State power and behave like the ruling class rather than being part of the Iraqi citizenry.

The U.S. also propped up the Kurds and used them as the excuse to hang Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi leaders. But soon the tables turned, while not being able to quench revived Sunni nationalism, the Americans soon found that the Shiites were no fools as some of their leaders began to demand that all foreign forces quit their country.

The Kurds on the other hand, tired of being massacred by the Turks with the  connivance of the Americans switched off. They looked more towards Iran for a safe haven rather than the protection of the Americans.

Ironically, the Iraqi invasion and the lawlessness that followed, provided a safe theatre of struggle for muslim foreign fighters. After suffering heavy casualities, the Americans  turned to some Sunnis and hired them as mercenaries under its "Awakening Council’’ programme. The Councils are actually Latin- American style killer squads who carry out mass torture and summary executions.

The Korean war of the early 1950s was under the United Nations flag and many countries were involved on both sides. But gradually, they all withdrew leaving the Americans to carry the can. On the other hand, the Iraqi invasion was a  conspiracy of America, its North Atlantic Treaty  Organisation (NATO) allies and some fellow travellers. It was what President Bush called ‘’a Coalition of the Willing’’.

But as it happened in Korea, many of the American allies are gradually withdrawing. Even its closest ally, Britain has moved from its positions in Bastra. Obama is smart enough to know that once again, his country will be abandoned to carry the can in Iraq. Yet, there is no sign of "victory’’.

Victory could not have been the judicial murder of Saddam and the leaders of his regime nor can it be the control of Iraqi oil by the Bush administration and its business partners. So, a quick exit strategy is the best way for an Obama Presidency. This seems to be what the Bush team and its puppets in Iraq want to prevent.

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