Iraq
Demands US Withdrawal

The Real News Network

 
The Iraqi government is demanding a definite deadline for US troop
withdrawals. On July 7th Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said Iraq would not
accept any deal unless it contained a timetable for a full withdrawal of US
troops from the country. Iraq
is under pressure from Washington to negotiate
a security pact that extends the US military presence beyond 2008
when the UN mandate comes to an end. al-Maliki added that Iraq preferred
a Memorandum of Understanding with Washington rather than the more formal
Status of Forces Agreement. This was echoed by Iraq’s national security adviser
Muwaffaq al Rubaie the following day. after a meeting in Najaf with Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The top Shiite cleric expressed his concerns over the
security deal by calling it an excuse that would legitimize the US occupation of Iraq. The Bush administration
opposes any withdrawal timetable. Washington
had made one concession in negotiations earlier this month when they agreed to
end the immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law enjoyed by US private
security contractors. But that announcement was greeted with caution in the
streets of Baghdad.
The controversial security deal has faced fierce opposition in Iraq, on the streets and in parliament, as many
believe the deal would turn the country into a US dependency. But the call for a
withdrawal timetable and the switch from a long-term or permanent agreement to
a short-term Memorandum of Understanding could be a pretense, According to
Political Science Professor Sabah al Nasseri

Bio

Born in Basra, Iraq,
Sabah al Nasseri is Professor of Political Science (Middle East Politics) at York University,
Toronto. Prior
to that he was a Lecturer of Political Science at the J.W.
Goethe University,
Frankfurt. Currently he is working on an
article, “Understanding Iraq.”

Transcript

CARLO BASILONE (VOICEOVER): The Iraqi government is demanding a definite
deadline for US
troop withdrawals. On July 7, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Iraq would not
accept any deal unless it contained a timetable for a full withdrawal of US
troops from the country. Iraq
is under pressure from Washington to negotiate
a security pact that extends the US military presence beyond 2008,
when the UN mandate comes to an end. Al-Maliki added that Iraq preferred a memorandum of understanding
with Washington,
rather than the more formal Status of Forces Agreement. This was echoed by Iraq's national
security adviser, Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, the following day: "We can't have a
memorandum of understanding with foreign forces unless it has dates and clear
horizons determining their departure of foreign forces. We're unambiguously
talking about their departure. We are waiting impatiently for the day when the
last foreign soldier leaves Iraq."
The statement came following a meeting in Najaf with Iraq's Grand Ayatollah, al-Sistani.
The top Shiite cleric expressed his concerns over the security deal by calling
it an excuse that would legitimize the US
occupation of Iraq.
The Bush administration opposes any withdrawal timetable.

GONZALOS GALLEGOS, US STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The US government and the
government of Iraq are in
agreement that we, the US
government, we want to withdraw. We will withdraw. However, that decision will
be conditions-based.

BASILONE: Washington had made one concession
in negotiations earlier this month when they agreed to end the immunity from
prosecution under Iraq
law enjoyed by US private security contractors. But that announcement was
greeted with caution in the streets of Baghdad.

NAUFIL AL-BAHRANI, BAGHDAD RESIDENT (SUBTITLED TRANSLATION): Lifting immunity
from security companies is something good, because they kill Iraqis in cold
blood. By ending immunity, this will help Iraqi law review issues of such companies'
victims and chase them judicially. And this is something good.

BAHJIT AL-RUBAI, BAGHDAD RESIDENT (SUBTITLED TRANSLATION): How does America agree
to end immunity from such companies? It is something impossible, because they
are Americans. They are criminals and killers. I don't think America has
agreed.

BASILONE: The controversial security deal has faced fierce opposition in Iraq, on the streets and in Parliament, as many
believe the deal would turn the country into a US dependency. But the call for a
withdrawal timetable and the switch from a long-term or permanent agreement to
a short-term memorandum of understanding could be a pretense, according to
political science professor Sabah al-Nasseri.

SABAH AL-NASSERI, PROF. POLITICAL SCIENCE, YORK UNIVERSITY:
What they are doing now is trying to drag [inaudible] will have different kind
of agreement, the memorandum of understanding, for a short term, not a long
term. And through this agreement they'll try to bypass the Iraqi government by
arguing, "We don't need, actually, the approval of the Parliament if we
sign just a short-term agreement." So al-Sistani is giving them legitimacy
to sign this short-term agreement with the United
States and keeping at the same time, like, the face of
the al-Maliki government by saying they did not sign a security agreement with
the United States, and they
insist on withdrawal of the troops of the United
States from Iraq.