[R-G] [BillTottenWeblog] Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control

[Bill Totten]

Bush wants fifty military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal
immunity for all American soldiers and contractors

by Patrick Cockburn

The Independent, London (June 05 2008)


A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American
military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of
the US presidential election in November.

The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to
The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in
Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would
occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and
enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the
Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.

But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US.
President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he
can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been
vindicated. But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term
settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential
nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US troops if he is elected president
in November.

The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate,
John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of
victory in Iraq - a victory that he says Mr Obama would throw away by a
premature military withdrawal.

America currently has 151,000 troops in Iraq and, even after projected
withdrawals next month, troop levels will stand at more than 142,000 -
10 000 more than when the military "surge" began in January 2007. Under
the terms of the new treaty, the Americans would retain the long-term
use of more than fifty bases in Iraq. American negotiators are also
demanding immunity from Iraqi law for US troops and contractors, and a
free hand to carry out arrests and conduct military activities in Iraq
without consulting the Baghdad government.

The precise nature of the American demands has been kept secret until
now. The leaks are certain to generate an angry backlash in Iraq. "It is
a terrible breach of our sovereignty", said one Iraqi politician, adding
that if the security deal was signed it would delegitimise the
government in Baghdad which will be seen as an American pawn.

The US has repeatedly denied it wants permanent bases in Iraq but one
Iraqi source said: "This is just a tactical subterfuge". Washington also
wants control of Iraqi airspace below 29,000 feet and the right to
pursue its "war on terror" in Iraq, giving it the authority to arrest
anybody it wants and to launch military campaigns without consultation.

Mr Bush is determined to force the Iraqi government to sign the
so-called "strategic alliance" without modifications, by the end of next
month. But it is already being condemned by the Iranians and many Arabs
as a continuing American attempt to dominate the region. Ali Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani, the powerful and usually moderate Iranian leader,
said yesterday that such a deal would create "a permanent occupation".
He added: "The essence of this agreement is to turn the Iraqis into
slaves of the Americans".

Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is believed to be personally
opposed to the terms of the new pact but feels his coalition government
cannot stay in power without US backing.

The deal also risks exacerbating the proxy war being fought between Iran
and the United States over who should be more influential in Iraq.

Although Iraqi ministers have said they will reject any agreement
limiting Iraqi sovereignty, political observers in Baghdad suspect they
will sign in the end and simply want to establish their credentials as
defenders of Iraqi independence by a show of defiance now. The one Iraqi
with the authority to stop deal is the majority Shia spiritual leader,
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. In 2003, he forced the US to agree to a
referendum on the new Iraqi constitution and the election of a
parliament. But he is said to believe that loss of US support would
drastically weaken the Iraqi Shia, who won a majority in parliament in
elections in 2005.

The US is adamantly against the new security agreement being put to a
referendum in Iraq, suspecting that it would be voted down. The
influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called on his followers to
demonstrate every Friday against the impending agreement on the grounds
that it compromises Iraqi independence.

The Iraqi government wants to delay the actual signing of the agreement
but the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney has been trying to force it
through. The US ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, has spent weeks
trying to secure the accord.

The signature of a security agreement, and a parallel deal providing a
legal basis for keeping US troops in Iraq, is unlikely to be accepted by
most Iraqis. But the Kurds, who make up a fifth of the population, will
probably favour a continuing American presence, as will Sunni Arab
political leaders who want US forces to dilute the power of the Shia.
The Sunni Arab community, which has broadly supported a guerrilla war
against US occupation, is likely to be split.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-secret-plan-to-keep-iraq-under-us-control-840512.html

_____

New agreement lets US strike any country from inside Iraq

by Basil Adas

Gulfnews.com, Dubai (June 03 2008)


Baghdad: A proposed Iraqi-American security agreement will include
permanent American bases in the country, and the right for the United
States to strike, from within Iraqi territory, any country it considers
a threat to its national security, Gulf News has learned.

Senior Iraqi military sources have told Gulf News that the long-term
controversial agreement is likely to include three major items.

Under the agreement, Iraqi security institutions such as Defence,
Interior and National Security ministries, as well as armament
contracts, will be under American supervision for ten years.

The agreement is also likely to give American forces permanent military
bases in the country, as well as the right to move against any country
considered to be a threat against world stability or acting against
Iraqi or American interests.

The military source added, "According to this agreement, the American
forces will keep permanent military bases on Iraqi territory, and these
will include Al Asad Military base in the Baghdadi area close to the
Syrian border, Balad military base in northern Baghdad close to Iran,
Habbaniyah base close to the town of Fallujah and the Ali Bin Abi Talib
military base in the southern province of Nasiriyah close to the Iranian
border".

The sources confirmed that the American army is in the process of
completing the building of the military facilities and runways for the
permanent bases.

He added that the American air bases in Kirkuk and Mosul will be kept
for no longer than three years. However, he said there were efforts by
the Americans to include the Kirkuk base in the list of permanent bases.

The sources also said that a British brigade was expected to remain at
the international airport in Basra for ten years as long as the American
troops stayed in the permanent bases in Iraq.

Iraqi analysts said that the second item of the controversial agreement
which permits American forces on Iraqi territories to launch military
attacks against any country it considers a threat is addressed primarily
to Iran and Syria.

Iran has raised serious concerns in the past few days over the
Iraqi-American security agreement and followed it with issuing religious
fatwas and called for demonstrations, mainly by the powerful Shiite
leader Moqtada Al Sadr movement, who is close to Iran, against the
agreement.

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/06/03/10218150.html


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