Maliki Implies Odierno Ouster;
Thousands Protest Security Pact
Although Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has approved a draft agreement on US troops in Iraq, it faces severe opposition from many parliamentarians and may not actually be enacted into law. A major stumbling block is immunity for US troops from Iraqi law.
Meanwhile, al-Maliki said Friday that Gen. Ray Odierno may have lost his position as commander of US forces in Iraq because of his charge that Iran is bribing Iraqi parliamentarians to reject the agreement.
Odierno told The Washington Post on Monday that intelligence reports indicated that Iran was bribing Iraqi lawmakers.
Odierno's remarks provoked a wave of outrage in Iraqi political circles.
Thousands of Iraqi protesters marched against the agreement on Saturday.
McClatchy reports political violence on Friday in Iraq:
' Baghdad
A roadside bomb targeted worshipers leaving Seyid Hayder Shiite mosque after Friday prayers in Shaab neighbourhood, northern Baghdad at 1 p.m. killing one civilian, injuring four.
Kirkuk
Qadir Aziz, a guard in a driver training establishment was killed by gunmen in Chamchamal district, to the northeast of Kirkuk city early Friday.
Sulaimaniyah
Iranian artillery bombarded six border villages in Bashder district, northeast Sulaimaniyah (province). The bombardment began at around 9.30 a.m. Friday, and continued until the afternoon. No casualties have been reported.
Three Turkish fighter planes bombed four border villages in Bashder district in northeast Sulaimaniyah other than the ones bombarded by the Iranian artillery. The attack started at around 1 p.m. and continued until 2 p.m. No casualties were reported.
Anbar
An IED detonated while a gunman was planting it in front of the imam of Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque's house, in Fallujah at 9.10 p.m. Friday. Sheikh Suleiman Ahmed al-Jumaili stepped outside his door just as the gunman was planting it. Both the gunman and the sheikh were killed.
Diyala
A female suicide bomber was caught in central Baquba Friday morning. Nidhal Abdulwahid was suspected by security forces and stopped for questioning, and when searched was found to be wearing a suicide vest.'
posted by Juan Cole @ 10/18/2008 01:16:00 AM
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7 Comments:
General Odierno is a Shock & Awe merchant and the worst choice for this phase.
As for the agreement, Maliki has not approved it. The new position is that the government's approval comes after parliament approves it.
The US is in a weak position. The draft has, by definition, been approved by the US but the Iraqi Parliament is free to change it in any way it likes and will come up with a virtually new agreement that no US president can swallow.
The agents of JENSA, and the US Imperialists, in the Pentagon and elsewhere have issued statements saying that the withdrawl decision will still be up to the US. Bush's 180 degrees turn has shown him as a surrender monkey, as judged by his own previou rhetoric, and they do not like it. Remember that Shallow Palin has accused Obama of waving a white flag for his call for a partial withdrawl. Bush has now gone for a complete end to the occupation, and even gave the Iraqis the right to tell the US to leave before end of 2011 by giving a one year notice at any time.
A major stumbling block is immunity for US troops from Iraqi law.
That's the "major stumbling block" the MSM is selling.
Maliki in damage-control mode
Among other things, the treaty calls for the withdrawal of all US troops from Iraqi cities by June 2009, and from all of Iraq by 2011, "unless requested otherwise by the Iraqi government".
The proposed treaty has raised eyebrows in both Baghdad and Tehran. For one thing, it protects American troops from Iraqi laws if they commit a crime on Iraqi soil, yet gives the Americans the right to long-term military bases in Iraq, and the ability to prosecute Iraqi nationals for crimes committed against the US. According to John Negroponte, the deputy secretary of state and former US ambassador to Baghdad, talks are progressing with the Iraqis and a treaty will be signed before the end of 2008.
The BBC confirms that the "withdrawal" is a hoax and a fraud.
Iraqis assess US troop withdrawal
US officials say the deal would see combat forces withdrawn from Iraqi towns and cities by the middle of 2009, and could see US troops withdraw completely by the end of 2011.
However, a Pentagon spokesman said the complete withdrawal "will only be followed if the conditions on the ground provide for it".
I'm not surprised that the MSM is keeping the fact that this "agreement" requires Iraqis to acquiesce to the indefinite occupation of their nation quiet, but I am still mildly surprised that you are too, Juan Cole.
Bring our troops home, the Iraqs want us out, the American people want this over, the only one who wants us in Iraq is Bush. It is time to stop Bush's war it has cost to many American lifes and for what. It was all based on lies by Bush and his cronies.
The immunity issue is a telling one. It's so painfully obvious that our soldiers shouldn't be there, in Iraq. Of course they can't be under both US law and Iraqi law. At some point, one or the other has to prevail. That's the point where occupation should certainly end. For the US to claim that the government of Iraq is sovereign, but at the same time to claim that our soldiers in Iraq are immune to its laws - that's blatantly contradictory. Either end the occupation or stop claiming that the Iraqi government is sovereign.
The SOFA is the ribbon tied to the rope in the tug of war between the US and Iran over the fate of Iraq. Iran is dragging Bush into the mud.
After making a host of concessions, including accepting a hard deadline for withdrawal, we may now have an agreement with Maliki. Meanwhile, Iran is using one of their clients (Sadr) to pressure the other (Maliki) to reject even this result as too favorable to the Americans.
The reality of SOFA negotiations has yet to find its way to American televisions, and Americans are terribly uninformed about the context. I feel certain, though, that when it does, both red and blue Americans will wonder why we are on the begging side of negotiations over how much longer we will be allowed to provide security to the people we have liberated. I doubt this will kindle further enthusiasm for the war.
What do you make of this?
Documents Say Iran Aids Militias From Iraq By MARK MAZZETTI
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/world/middleeast/19intel.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
"a collection of interrogation reports based on accounts of more than two dozen Shiite fighters captured in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. (The documents are available online at ctc.usma.edu/Iran_Iraq.asp.)"
"American intelligence officials say they believe that since a handful of Iranian Revolutionary Guard operatives were captured in Baghdad in 2006, Iran shifted its strategy to bringing small groups of Iraqis into Iran."
Who were these "operatives" captured in 2006? Is this a reference to the diplomats from Iran who were invited by Iraq government, then arrested by USA, eventually released?
More smoke and mirrors? Or some new legitimate "intelligence"?
Jaun, I thought Sistani gave the SOFA his blessing if it passed parliament. Does this mean that Sadr and the others are going against Sistani?
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