[Vision2020] Iraqi PM Demands Specific Pullout Timetable

[Tom Hansen]

>From the Daily News Roundup Edition of the Army Times -

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Iraqi PM demands specific pullout timetable
   
BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dug in his heels Monday on the 
future of the U.S. military in Iraq, insisting that all foreign soldiers 
leave the country by a specific date in 2011 and rejecting legal immunity 
for American troops.

Despite the tough words, al-Maliki’s aides insisted a compromise could be 
found on the two main stumbling blocks to an accord governing the U.S. 
military presence in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at the 
end of the year.

Last week, U.S. and Iraqi officials said the two sides agreed tentatively 
to a schedule that includes a broad pullout of combat troops by the end of 
2011 with the possibility that a residual U.S. force might stay behind to 
continue training and advising Iraqi security services.

But al-Maliki’s remarks indicated his government was not satisfied with 
that arrangement and wants all foreign troops gone by the end of 2011.

That cast doubt on whether an agreement is near and suggested al-Maliki is 
playing to a domestic audience frustrated by the war and eager for an end 
to the foreign military presence.

“There can be no treaty or agreement except on the basis of Iraq’s full 
sovereignty,” al-Maliki told a gathering of Shiite tribal sheiks. He said 
an accord must be based on the principle that “no foreign soldier remains 
in Iraq after a specific deadline, not an open time frame.”

Al-Maliki said the U.S. and Iraq had already agreed on a full withdrawal 
of all foreign troops by the end of 2011 — an interpretation that the 
White House challenged. Until then, the U.S. would not conduct military 
operations “without the approval” of the Iraqi government, al-Maliki said.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said negotiations with the Iraqis were 
continuing and repeated the U.S. position that the withdrawal must be 
linked to conditions in Iraq — a clear difference with al-Maliki’s 
interpretation of what had been agreed.

“Any decisions on troops will be based on the conditions on the ground in 
Iraq. That has always been our position and continues to be our position,” 
Fratto said Monday in Crawford, Texas. “There is no agreement until there 
is an agreement signed.”

Fratto said the U.S. was “optimistic that Iraq and the U.S. can reach a 
mutual agreement on flexible goals” and allow “Iraqi forces to provide 
security for a sovereign Iraq.”

President Bush has long resisted a timetable for removing troops from 
Iraq, even under strong pressure from an American public distressed by 
U.S. deaths and discouraged by the length of the war that began in 2003.

Last month, however, Bush reversed course and agreed to set a “general 
time horizon” for bringing troops home, based on Iraq’s ability to provide 
for its own security. But the Iraqis insisted they want a specific 
schedule.

“We find this to be too vague,” a close al-Maliki aide told The Associated 
Press on Monday. “We don’t want the phrase ‘time horizons.’ We are not 
comfortable with that phrase,” said the aide, who spoke on condition of 
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

Another top al-Maliki aide, also speaking on condition of anonymity for 
the same reason, said the Iraqi government had “stopped talking about the 
withdrawal of combat troops. We just talk about withdrawals,” including 
trainers and logistics troops.

U.S. and Iraqi officials said last week they had agreed to remove American 
combat troops from Iraq’s cities by next June, withdrawing to bases where 
they could be summoned if necessary. The officials spoke on condition of 
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, but the plan appeared 
in line with a U.S. strategy to turn urban security over to Iraqi police.

During his Monday address, al-Maliki also suggested the question of legal 
immunity for U.S. military personnel or contractors remains a sticking 
point in the negotiations.

The draft agreement provides that private U.S. contractors would be 
subject to Iraqi law but the Americans are holding firm that U.S. troops 
would remain subject exclusively to U.S. legal jurisdiction. The U.S. has 
ruled out allowing American soldiers to face trial in Iraqi courts.

But al-Maliki said his country could not grant “open immunity” to Iraqis 
or foreigners because that would be tantamount to a violating 
the “sanctity of Iraqi blood.” He did not elaborate.

One of the al-Maliki aides said he believed language could be found to 
overcome differences over the withdrawal schedule but immunity was a 
tougher issue to resolve.

U.S. officials in Washington have privately expressed frustration over the 
Iraqi stand in the negotiations, which were supposed to have ended by July 
31. The agreement must be approved by Iraq’s factious 275-member 
parliament, where opposition to a deal is strong.

It appeared al-Maliki was seeking to bolster his nationalist credentials 
ahead of provincial elections late this year and a national ballot in 2009.

Al-Maliki’s Shiite allies face a strong challenge from followers of anti-
American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, long an opponent of the U.S. presence. 
The prime minister’s strong statements in support of an end to immunity 
and for a firm withdrawal timetable would make it difficult for him to 
accept an agreement that falls short of his public demands.

In violence Monday, an American soldier was mortally wounded in a shooting 
attack on his foot patrol in north Baghdad, the U.S. military said. An 
Associated Press tally shows at least 4,147 U.S. military personnel have 
died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college 
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)


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