By David Mac Dougall

“Sofa Talks” might sound like the old-school Saturday Night Live “Coffee Talk” sketch, but it’s arguably the single most important issue facing Iraq right now.

“Sofa” stands for Status of Forces Agreement – a deal between the US and Iraqi Government about what happens to tens of thousands of US troops stationed in Iraq, when a UN mandate to keep them here runs out at the end of December. The US Government wants to strike a deal by the end of July, but it’s such a complicated and controversial subject, the self-imposed deadline will not be easy to meet.

The Iraqi Government is single-handily shaping the agenda and public perception on this story. The US Embassy here in Baghdad has said little on the subject. The sticking points in coming up with an agreement both sides can live with are many:

How many long-term bases will the US be allowed to keep on Iraqi soil?

How long will the bases be here for? Is there a “get-out” clause if either side changes their mind about the agreement?

What will US forces be allowed to do here? Arrest people? Carry out unilateral military operations? Launch attacks on other countries from bases inside Iraq?

What happens if US troops commit a crime – which country has jurisdiction?

There’s been some progress however: on what happens to thousands of Iraqi prisoners currently in US custody; and making US contractors working in Iraq answerable to an Iraqi court if they break the law.

But despite these few points which have been hammered out, this issue really is firing up Iraqi passions. Muqtada al-Sadr – no stranger to organizing anti-US or anti-Iraqi Government protests – has encouraged his followers to demonstrate against any sort of long-term US presence here. And a final agreement will have to be approved by the Iraqi Parliament – potentially with a two-thirds majority. As we’ve seen with past votes and legislation, the Parliament can be an extremely cumbersome place to do political business, and there are never any guarantees of success.

We went out in one Baghdad neighborhood to ask residents what they think about the issue – here’s a short video with a couple of good responses.