How can it be, you ask, that the press doesn't report at all about the impending long-term security accord that President Bush is inking this summer with the Iraqi government? Homie. Come on, now. What, you thought I wasn't looking out for you? Fresh out from the Washington Independent:

The negotiation, set to conclude this summer, will establish the basis for a long-term U.S. occupation of Iraq. According to the Bush administration, the Iraqi government requested a bilateral agreement to replace the expiring U.N. mandate for the occupation, which offended Iraqi sovereignty. Asked if there was any irony in preparing a plan to keep thousands of foreign soldiers in Iraq in the name of Iraqi sovereignty, a National Security Council official, who requested anonymity, replied, "Sure, but we plan to negotiate that aspect" of the agreement.

God, I love that quote.