Nearly 10 days ago, Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambasssador to Iraq, signed an agreement with the Iraqi government that lays out how U.S. troops are to conduct themselves in the three years before the deadline arrives for them to leave. But in the days since, the Bush administration has declined to make the document public.
The only English version has been one the McClatchy Baghdad Bureau produced from copies widely available in Iraq.
Now we know why: American officials don't agree with the expansive interpretation of the agreement circulating in Iraq, but they don't want to discuss it lest that upset what appears to be the Iraqi parliament's likely approval of the document tomorrow. Read our current story here.
If an English version of the agreement had been released before the Iraqi vote it might have encouraged people to question its provisions. With no release, there'll be no discussion, so no one will have to offer explanations of why Pentagon officials are unconcerned.
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