Japan announced Sept. 12 that it plans to end its military airlift mission in Iraq by year's end. Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said his government is discussing withdrawal Air Self-Defense Force troops deployed in Kuwait for the air support mission, following a request from the Iraqi government had asked for a reduction in the presence of foreign military forces. The move is also a response to the impending December expiration of the UN resolution serving as the legal basis for the deployment.

Iraqi state employees affiliated with the General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI), following a campaign of demonstrations in central Baghdad that began Aug. 24, won an agreement from the Ministry of Finance to meet demands for improvement of living conditions and to rescind recently announced cuts in pay and benefits. The government also agreed to discuss workers' demands for public access to parliament sessions. Government talks are to begin with GFWCUI president Subhi al-Badri and vice president Saeed Nima. (GFWCUI via US Labor Against the War, Sept. 8)

Just in time for the elections, Bush orchestrates some "good news" in Iraq—the announcement of a pull-out of 8,000 troops early in '09 (NYT, Sept. 9), and the beginning of a turn-over of control of Anbar province and responsibility for paying and "directing" the Awakening Council militias to the Iraqi government (NYT, Sept. 1). Both these developments are not as rosy as the headlines make them appear, if you take the time to read (and analyze) the small print. The Times tells us the troop pull-out would leave 138,000 troops in Iraq by March—"still several thousand more than were there in January 2007, when Mr. Bush announced the 'surge' that brought the total over 160,000." Since nobody else does, we have to keep reminding that the end of the "surge" will leave more troops in Iraq than when "major combat operations" were declared over five years ago. In May 2003, Bush pledged that the 135,000 troops then in Iraq would be reduced by 100,000 over the next four months, leaving only a division to control Baghdad. But we're not supposed to talk about that.

Iraq has signed its first major oil deal with a foreign company since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime—a 20-year, $3 billion contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to develop fields in southern Wasit province. The deal marks the first time in more than 35 years that Iraq has allowed a foreign oil company to do business within its borders. Iraq's cabinet must still approve the contract, but Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad said that would happen soon and work could commence within a few months.

Thousands of Iraqis loyal to the Sadr movement protested in Kufa Aug. 29 to denounce the pending Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which they called a plan for the long-term US occupation of the country. Militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for the peaceful protests after Friday prayers. It was the 13th such demonstration against the SOFA.

A federal jury Aug. 28 acquitted former US Marine Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario Jr. of voluntary manslaughter and other charges in the first civilian trial for crimes allegedly committed by a member of the US military in Iraq. After six hours of deliberation, a jury in US District Court for the Central District of California found Nazario not guilty of ordering his squad to shoot four unarmed Iraqi men in a house they had just searched in Fallujah in 2004. In addition to manslaughter, Nazario was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

The first US war resister deported from Canada was sentenced to 15 months in prison Aug. 22 at a court martial hearing in Colorado. Pte. Robin Long, 25, of Boise, Idaho, was also given a dishonorable discharge after pleading guilty to charges of desertion. The sentence was the longest any convicted army deserter has received since the beginning of the current Iraq war, according to retired US Army Col. Ann Wright, a former diplomat who resigned from her post in protest at the war's outset. Wright testified against the legality of the Iraq war on Long's behalf. Of the thousands of soldiers sentenced for desertion or going AWOL, only former army sergeant Kevin Benderman received an equal term in 2005.

Turkish fighter planes again bombed PKK guerilla positions in northern Iraq Aug. 16, in what a military statement in Ankara called a "successful operation." The raid targeted a cave in the Avasin-Basyan region, which served as a base for a "large group" of PKK militants who were preparing for an attack across the border in Turkey, the statement said. Ankara claims there are more than 2,000 PKK fighters in northern Iraq. The Turkish government has a one-year parliamentary authorization for cross-border military action against the PKK, which expires in October. (Al-Arabiya, AFP, Aug. 17)