By NNN-KUNA,
Washington : The Bush administration has renewed its refusal to inject new amendments into the bilateral agreement with Iraq.
“It’s going to be very hard for us to accept any changes, and I think the Iraqis know that,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters Tuesday.
“We think that the door is pretty much shut on these negotiations,” she added. “Without seeing the amendment, I think it’s a little premature for me to say what we would or would not accept, but it will just be a very high bar for them to clear for us to change anything.”
“I think that we’ve provided our best thinking on the agreement and gave our best offer. We came their way on a few things, and they came our way on a few things. So that’s what you get in a negotiation,” Perino said.
She admitted that the US administration expected from the beginning that the Iraqi government would face difficulties to get this agreement through its political system.
“We have not seen the amendments yet that they want have addressed and so we’ll wait to see those. And our negotiators, led by Ambassador Crocker, will take a look,” she added.