According to the BBC, the Iraqi Cabinet has endorsed the US SOFA which includes the following elements:
- placing US forces in Iraq under the authority of the Iraqi government
- US forces to leave the streets of Iraq’s towns and villages by the middle of 2009
- US forces to hand over their bases to Iraq during the course of 2009
- US forces to lose the authority to raid Iraqi homes without an order from an Iraqi judge and permission of the government.
We will see if these reports are true fairly soon.
I will comment on this as soon as the hard facts come out.
“We will see if these reports are true fairly soon….”
VS,
I have a bridge to sell you, can we discuss terms?
Dear Tony,
I am afraid that you might have misunderstood what I mean (I am not as clear as I should, at times).
I am not doubting that the cabinet has approved the SOFA, but before commenting I want to know what *exactly* the terms of that SOFA are. As you know, the devil is in the details, and in this case a paraphrase by a *government spokesman” (Ali Dabbagh) is not my idea of a credible source.
Logically judging on facts is a personal preference of mine and if that makes you think that I might purchase a bridge from you, I would, indeed, be interested in hearing the terms of your offer :-)
Kind regards,
VS
To get a final idea of what we’re dealing with, consider this quote from U.S. war journalist Pat Dollard:
Letme tell you right now, no exaggeration. Rahm Emanuel is the devil. He is . . . a Goebbels, a Mengele, a perfect Cromwell who would, without the
faintest evidence of hesitation washing across his face for even a millisecond, order and even personally execute each and every human being he or Obama perceived to be an enemy of the regime. And if you ever personally offended him, and he had the opportunity to kill you, he would probably do it by starting with your children as you were made to watch. He is a bad guy.
‘Parliament will reject US-Iraq pact’
That the so called “government” of Iraq are traitors, bought by and with US bucks, is evident beyond doubt (for me, of course).
But I wonder if US is seeking an excuse for some kind of intervention against IRAN for the “distabilizing protests in Iraq” in the wake of the SOFA ratification.
Regards
I don’t put much credence in the so-called restrictions that are within the SOFA. US forces killed a relative of Maliki not so long ago in a supposedly Iraqi-only zone. One might imagine the status quo to continue.
Juan Cole on the SOFA:
http://www.juancole.com/2008/11/iraqis-view-security-agreement-as.html
Why Did the Iraqi Cabinet Approve SOFA Now? (Two Hints: Obama and Iran)
By Robert Dreyfuss
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/107402/why_did_the_iraqi_cabinet_approve_sofa_now_(two_hints:_obama_and_iran)/