That's what he said. He certainly means well. He's been an advocate of democracy in Iraq for 50 years. But since he is not a Sunni nor a Shia, I think he understands the probability that he and his fellow Kurds will not be able to stop the self-sustaining sectarian violence that has plagued Iraq since 2005. But his remarks support what we've heard from other Iraqi politicians over the years, that they do not want the US to leave anytime soon. Just today, the Iraqi parliament sent a lobbying delegation to Washington to ask Democrats not to pull the plug on the occupation.

But surely they and Talabani got the memo that the US is no longer trying to get the Iraqi forces to stand on their own? In fact the US long ago lowered its expectations of a united Iraqi republic in general. And the long-term US plan to have permanent bases in Iraq, in order to stay close to Iran and Syria is still on the books. In fact, the bases are still being built despite a recent law being passed which forbids them.