[Dialogue] Secret US Plan For Military Future In Iraq

[Harry Wainwright]

Published on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 by The Guardian/UK
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/08/iraq.usa>  

Secret US Plan For Military Future In Iraq

by Seumas Milne

A confidential draft agreement covering the future of US forces in Iraq,
passed to the Guardian, shows that provision is being made for an open-ended
military presence in the country.
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The draft strategic framework agreement between the US and Iraqi
governments, dated March 7 and marked "secret" and "sensitive", is intended
to replace the existing UN mandate and authorises the US to "conduct
military operations in Iraq and to detain individuals when necessary for
imperative reasons of security" without time limit.

The authorisation is described as "temporary" and the agreement says the US
"does not desire permanent bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq".
But the absence of a time limit or restrictions on the US and other
coalition forces - including the British - in the country means it is likely
to be strongly opposed in Iraq and the US.

Iraqi critics point out that the agreement contains no limits on numbers of
US forces, the weapons they are able to deploy, their legal status or powers
over Iraqi citizens, going far beyond long-term US security agreements with
other countries. The agreement is intended to govern the status of the US
military and other members of the multinational force.

Following recent clashes between Iraqi troops and Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi
army in Basra, and threats by the Iraqi government to ban his supporters
from regional elections in the autumn, anti-occupation Sadrists and Sunni
parties are expected to mount strong opposition in parliament to the
agreement, which the US wants to see finalised by the end of July. The UN
mandate expires at the end of the year.

One well-placed Iraqi Sunni political source said yesterday: "The feeling in
Baghdad is that this agreement is going to be rejected in its current form,
particularly after the events of the last couple of weeks. The government is
more or less happy with it as it is, but parliament is a different matter."

It is also likely to prove controversial in Washington, where it has been
criticised by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has
accused the administration of seeking to tie the hands of the next president
by committing to Iraq's protection by US forces.

The defence secretary, Robert Gates, argued in February that the planned
agreement would be similar to dozens of "status of forces" pacts the US has
around the world and would not commit it to defend Iraq. But Democratic
Congress members, including Senator Edward Kennedy, a senior member of the
armed services committee, have said it goes well beyond other such
agreements and amounts to a treaty, which has to be ratified by the Senate
under the constitution.

Administration officials have conceded that if the agreement were to include
security guarantees to Iraq, it would have to go before Congress. But the
leaked draft only states that it is "in the mutual interest of the United
States and Iraq that Iraq maintain its sovereignty, territorial integrity
and political independence and that external threats to Iraq be deterred.
Accordingly, the US and Iraq are to consult immediately whenever the
territorial integrity or political independence of Iraq is threatened."

Significantly - given the tension between the US and Iran, and the latter's
close relations with the Iraqi administration's Shia parties - the draft
agreement specifies that the "US does not seek to use Iraq territory as a
platform for offensive operations against other states".

General David Petraeus, US commander in Iraq, is to face questioning from
all three presidential candidates on Capitol Hill today when he reports to
the Senate on his surge strategy, which increased US forces in Iraq by about
30,000 last year.

Both Clinton and Democratic rival Barack Obama are committed to beginning
troop withdrawals from Iraq. Republican senator John McCain has pledged to
maintain troop levels until the country is secure.

C 2008 The Guardian

Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org 

URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/08/8158/

 

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