Marc Lynch doesn't sound as worried as I am about the SOFA exceptions in the news today:
SOFA always made allowances for adjustments if requested by the Iraqi government. Mosul remains pretty much a hot war zone, from all I hear, unlike most of the other cities -- and in those cities, no such adjustment appears to be contemplated. This doesn't look like the tearing up of the SOFA, it looks like the correct application of the SOFA -- mutually adjusting one aspect pragmatically while maintaining the strategic commitment to its overall framework.
The key is not the details like continuing to operate in Mosul in tandem with Iraqi forces. The key is the commitment to the withdrawal timeline. And that commitment has not wavered a bit.
My take here.
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