How to Stay in Iraq for 1,000 Years
NEWS: Is there a way for U.S. negotiators to finagle permanent bases without permission from Congress? Yep. It's called a SOFA.
August 22, 2008
|
|
Few Americans had ever heard of a SOFA until earlier this year, when the Internet lit up with a revelation many observers of US foreign policy had long predicted. Despite repeated claims to the contrary, US officials were pressing the Iraqi government to accept an indefinite US military presence, including—and here was the shocker—up to 58 American bases on Iraqi turf.
The term SOFA, shorthand for Status of Forces Agreement, was suddenly all over the news. The countries have been bargaining feverishly over this and a related pact called a Strategic Framework Agreement. The separate pacts have been conflated and confused by foreign policy experts and critics alike. The SOFA provides the legal basis for the presence and operations of US military forces. The framework is a more sweeping—albeit nonbinding—deal that addresses all aspects of the bilateral relationship between Iraq and the United States, including the control of bases, communication between Iraqi and US security forces, and the biggest question: How long? In drafts of the framework, negotiators have referred to "time horizons" for troop withdrawal. Tricky semantics, right? You don't have to be a naturalist to realize that a horizon never gets any closer to the observer.
These agreements are needed to replace the 2003 UN Security Council mandate, set to expire at year's end, that authorized the multinational military presence in Iraq. Enacted without meaningful Iraqi participation, it in essence says that Iraq is sovereign, that the military occupation is a temporary partnership with Iraqi forces, that elections will be held and a democratic transition commence, and that the "multinational" military force will "take all necessary measures to contribute to the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq." A 2007 extension of this mandate was vigorously opposed by the fledgling Iraqi parliament, which appealed directly (and futilely) to the Security Council after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki requested the extension without parliament's approval.
The ongoing negotiations are the Bush administration's last chance to revive its battered Middle East legacy. While the UN mandate could technically be reextended, Iraq indicated previously that the 2007 extension would be the last. To request another would make the Iraqi government appear weak, demonstrate that it isn't in charge, and by extension—literally—concede to the world that the Bush Iraq policy has failed.
But what the administration requested was no ordinary Status of Forces Agreement. It "may be unique from other SOFAs concluded by the United States in that it may contain authorization by the host government…for US forces to engage in military operations," notes the Congressional Research Service.
That's a crucial distinction, according to critics of the US policy in Iraq. In effect, US negotiators were using the SOFA process, which needs no congressional approval, in a quiet attempt to enact a mutual defense treaty without Senate ratification, as the US Constitution requires. As Douglas Macgregor, a retired Army colonel and now military expert, told a congressional subcommittee in February, the administration should not "pretend that a major US defense commitment, internal and external to Iraq, is a matter for resolution inside a SOFA."
Do we really think that we're going to remain a world power for 1000 years by acting like a big bully?
Dare I ask if lucero1946 was even at the age of majority during that era? If not, dare I again guess that he worships at the altar of Ward Churchill. And, if all this does not compute; in plain old words, Shut Up!
Is there nothing these neocons have had influence in that has not exploded in our faces?
The US military has never voluntarily given up 1” square of inch of real estate it has occupied without leaving some kind of “footprint” behind to use as a base of influence. Be it strategic or tactical, the US is never leaving Iraq. In fact, the physical presence of US troops in the Mid-East has just begun.
Go further, think deeper & seek the truth at all costs. Learn more at www.subversivearchitect.com.
'I agree with the draft. Not because of what men like you would do but because of what millions like myself would refuse to do"
Yaah,like America's revolottion,WWI WWIIand the Indo American invasions--million American soldiers died you FKN fools.Even Canada called a draft in WWI WWIII and thousands died--no-one could stop the lying Ashkenazi press.
Riddle;Why did Germany attack Russia twice?
A draft is about to happen and we will see how many fools stay home and but end up dead in Russia.
http://www.worldreports.org/news
for all the world+dog to see and evaluate for itself like normal honest adult human beings must - because even with all the Post-Ninesey-'Levvensey False-Flag Controlled-Demolition USDC Jurisdiction Criminal Alibi Kerfluffle that has been sghoved down our throats by the BushCo Criminal Terrorstorm Society, John 8:32 is Just All Right by a WHOLE LOT of the Rest of Us!
Mother Jones (Heaven bless her and all who ride with her!) has the courage to blow the lid off the pot again and again. Worldreports.org, not entirely unlike wikileaks.org, tends to throw that selfsame lid straight on and with considerable rightful force indeed into the crim perps' faces, naming their names and deeds in places where Rupert Murdoch will not go, and even Tom Feeley's hard-besieged (for they too are HONEST) informationclearinghouse.info krue and allies cannot penetrate.
Remarkable disinfectant effect tends to result from Mr. Story's "Politically Incorrect" and globally public disclosures re the Ownership Society's misdeeds and ongoing crimes against all the Rest of Us, the Normal People. Prepare to further inform and then reorient your understanding of how the Big Money Things of Daddy Warbucks Incarnate (tho' turned to black evil at the core, unlike Annie's "Kind Friend") still work in this world, Gentle Reader - especially among those who comprise the "Tip of the Pyrmaid" as symbolized on the reverse of the USDC Jurisdiction's [privatized since 1913, look it up!] One Dollar note.
Example: Yo! GWB! You can come outta' that closety place now and stand straight up, like a man seeking Redemption as well as Forgiveness must do, you poor addled man - Friend Story has (as of yesterday's posting) utterly *removed* your evil ole daddy's evil and long-standing Power of Blackmail from your OWN evil Bonus of Ugly Onus in this ongoing world-class ongoing Imperial Kerfluffle disaster that you and your wormhead buddies of the Dachau Gang have brought on us all, already! So stop wanking and GET RIGHT with Kind Holy Eternal Creator already, WILLYA' ALREADY??? (Got gratitude, D00D?)
THEN you can rescind that General Power of Attorney that binds you to your evil buddy Richard B Cheney, and be your OWN DAMN MAN again!
Just don't try being Dictator of the Planet any more - nobody who ever studied and accepted the US Declaration of Independence (let alone History Herself!) will happily stand for that. Your dictatorship (erm, OK, "Decidership") is already unraveled. YOur Absolute Power to Force Everyone Else to LIKE what you have done never existed, you got that, MISTER Bush?
See for yourself, Gentle Seeking Reader. Informed is forearmed - the time draws short, and Congress shall soon recess for October home-district visits (while "Mister Decider" stays put with his crony-palz in the Whiteman's House and Keeps On Workin'...)
Buy gold, invest in collectibles, and just plain look out. 'Nuff said to the wise by now.
Increase the Peace.
Reverse the Curse.
Reject ALL Terror.
(Um, because you KNOW you WANT to!)
Yes I am old enough .