Iraqis to US: 'Get out'

A majority of the Iraqi parliament has endorsed a measure calling on the United States to leave their country.

Radical Shiite politicians pressed Thursday for legislation demanding a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops and a freeze on the number of foreign forces already in the country - even as the U.S. Congress debates the fate of the troubled mission.

The proposed Iraqi legislation, drafted by the parliamentary bloc loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, was signed by 144 members of the 275-member house, according to parliamentary officials.

The Sadrist bloc, which holds 30 parliamentary seats and sees the U.S.-led forces as an occupying army, has pushed similar bills before, but this would be the first time it persuaded a majority of lawmakers to sign on.

The measure has not been, and is not expected to be passed by parliament, but it underscores the degree to which the Iraqi people view the United States as an occupying force. God help us if the Shiite militias begin to fight us with weapons, rather than with words.