Posted on 06/06/2008 10:03:50 AM PDT by americanophile
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said on Friday it would not grant U.S. troops freedom of movement for military operations in a new agreement being negotiated on extending the presence of American troops on its soil.
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said the United States wanted its forces to operate without any restrictions, but this was not acceptable to Iraq.
The United States, which invaded Iraq in 2003 to oust Saddam Hussein, is negotiating an agreement with Iraq aimed at giving a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after December 31, when their United Nations mandate expires.
The negotiations are the subject of heated debate both in United States and Iraq, where thousands have answered anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's call for weekly protests after Friday Muslim prayers.
While the Iraqi government has confirmed there are major differences between the two sides in the negotiations, few details of the sticking points have been made public.
"What I can confirm now, with no hesitation, is that there will not be freedom of movement for American (forces) in Iraq," Salih told Arabiya television.
U.S. officials said this week they would not comment on the content of the negotiations.
But Western diplomats say it is unlikely the Americans would agree to any deal that would require them to seek permission from the Iraqi government for every military operation.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Well, just reverse the players, would you let a foreign army move freely throughout your country, violating all established rules of national sovereignty?
I’m hoping this is a bit of diplomatic Judo the Administration is playing for the Arab world, ask for a bunch of stuff only a puppet government would agree to, the Iraqi’s gets it’s panties in a bunch, the US relents and “caves” for Iraqi sovereignty - giving the Iraqi government a major PR victory and undermining the nationalistic terrorists.
Then maybe it is time for us to just announce a pull out date due to disagreements with the Iraqi government. It is their country and they can run it whichever way they choose. Our guys need not be dying to support it.
can we leave now?
Just be patient. A permanent military presence on the 3rd (or 1st) largest oil reserves in the world in the century oil will run out is a very good thing.
Bush’s genius in this matter will become clear in about 10 years.
“Well, just reverse the players, would you let a foreign army move freely throughout your country, violating all established rules of national sovereignty?”
Well, should we require our troops to remain there as potential targets and be further restricted by even more rigid rules of engagement dictated bythe people who we are ostensibly there to protect?
If Iraq puts restrictions on the ability of our troops to defend themselves by taking aggressive action against terrorists in Iraq anywhere, they have successfully defeated the reason for us remaining in Iraq in the first place.
The Iraqi government should either be put in its place, or perhaps be left to the none-to-tender mercies of the Iranians and Saudis.
Our ill-advised actions post-eliminating Saddam and his gang are bearing the bitter fruit of Dhimmis and Kaffirs who fail to view reality from the Islamic perspective.
Muslims are not western European Germans or Westernized Japanese. They are people locked in the mindset of a pre-Medieval cult. That cult draws a clear line of distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims. They may cooperate with us at times to achieve their objectives, but never can we view them as friends or even reliable allies, especially in a conflict with other Muslims regardless of any Islamic sectarian distinctions or squabbles.
A large withdrawal of troops in mid October would be nice!
A real October surprise!
Well, if they are sovereign, then they have a right to choose.
If the Govt is our sock puppet, then we slam them.
What’re we gonna do, leave?
Of course, if there’s a military coup in Iraq, heh:>>
Only NEGATIVE reporting all of the time!!
“December 31”
Shouldn’t be an issue. We’ll be in Iran by then.
Good deal, let’s move into Iran and take out Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs.
Can I be arrested for inciting hated? I HATE THEM. I hope you hate them too. There.
Our soldiers have died enough, let them have it. 10 years from now, George W Bush will be hailed as a visionary.
To our Iraqi friends:
1) Don’t call US when you Iraqis cant get it together against your enemies.
2) I want my OIL at less than $2 a gallon, as payment for all our soldiers who died because you couldn;t handle insurgents on your own.
3) Unless you couldn;t handle AQ and your own terrorists at will, then don;t even try pushing us out.
WE decide when we pull out, not you.
We get this type of reporting everytime we negotiate the ROE over there.
Hmm... I guess I don’t see this as bad news. Iraq ~should be~ standing up for its own sovereignty about now. They should be taking more responsibility for their own territory. They do need to demonstrate that they can govern on their own, and earn the respect of their people.
And keep in mind, there’s probably all sorts of things being hammered out in new agreements. Cherry-picking one possibility that’s still being discussed and isn’t decided is... well, meaningless.
But it sounds like the Iraqi government is actually starting to govern. That’s a good thing.
But, then we just replaced one dictator with another. One of the problems with giving people freedom is they might not want to do what you tell them.
The gains we’ve made over the past few years is because we’ve been telling everybody we are going to form an empire, we are going to listen to the Iraqis, we do not want to be an occupying force. And as the Arab world saw the US live up to those declarations, you get things like the Sunni Awakening. You get the reduction in violence. We are in danger of losing all of that goodwill - and the violence will only increase and the terrorists will regain their power.
This is Reuters, folks. The grain of truth in the story has been twisted and sensationalized beyond recognition.
And we get all kinds of people believing every word the media says and reacting to it.
That goes a long way in explaining how we are allowing our own liberties to be eroded.
Then it’s time to start leaving, IMO. Not as a capitulation, but as a recognition that the new government of Iraq believes it is ready to fight its own battles.
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