Referendum Sought On U.S.-Iraq Pact

Sadr Loyalists Demand Vote On Security Agreement That Would Keep American Troops In Iraq For Years

(AP)  Loyalists of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on the Iraqi government Saturday to hold a public referendum on a long-term security deal with the United States.

Widespread opposition to the deal has raised doubts that negotiators can meet a July target to finalize a pact to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after the current U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, said an American Marine died Friday in a non-combat related incident in Iraq, pushing the number of Americans killed this month to 21 as May draws to a close.

While the number is not final, it would be the lowest monthly death toll since February 2004, when 20 troops died, according to an Associated Press tally based on military figures.

The Iraqi monthly toll also was down, with 516 violent deaths reported to the AP by police and other officials, the lowest since 375 were killed in December 2005.

Senior Sadrists, including lawmakers Falah Hassan Shanshal and Maha Adel al-Douri, met in the cleric's Sadr City office in Baghdad and issued a statement calling on the Iraqi government to stop negotiations with the U.S. and to hold a public referendum on the issue.

Al-Sadr, the hardline Shiite cleric and militia leader whose Mahdi Army battled American troops in Baghdad's Sadr City district until a truce this month, also has called for a referendum along with weekly protests against the deal. And, opposition has been growing among other groups.

U.S. and Iraqi officials began negotiations in March on a blueprint for the long-term security agreement and a second deal, to establish the legal basis for U.S. troops to remain in the country after a U.N. mandate runs out. Few details have been released about the talks.

Although U.S. officials insist they are not seeking permanent bases, suspicion runs deep among many Iraqis that the Americans want to keep at least some troops in the country for many years.

The U.S. military has continued to target what it calls Iranian-backed Shiite militia factions, warning key leaders have fled to other areas as American and Iraqi forces closed in on them in Sadr City.

American troops acting on tips in eastern Baghdad on Saturday captured a suspect believed to be a key assistant to one of the fugitive militia leaders, according to a military statement. The man captured was accused of kidnapping and managing funds for the so-called special groups.

Tensions also rose when Nassar al-Rubaie, the leader of the Sadrist bloc in parliament, was stopped at a police checkpoint outside Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad.

The six-car convoy, en route from Basra to the holy city of Najaf, was held up for nearly two hours without explanation, al-Rubaie told AP in a telephone interview. He called for the government to stop harassing Sadrists and put those responsible on trial.

Police Col. Asaad Ali, the director of the Diwaniyah operations center, said police stopped the convoy because gunmen are not allowed in the city and al-Rubaie was protected by armed guards. He said a patrol was sent to safely escort the convoy on its way out of the province.

Separately, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner expressed renewed commitment to helping the Iraqis rebuild as he made his second visit to the wartorn country in less than a year.

[noloyalisti]

This is what it was about from the get go. Occupy Iraq militarily, set up a government operated by oil interests (just like America) and control the oil supply. They didn''t take into account the people of the occupied country and the rest of the world would not let it happen.

Let them vote because they will want us the heck out now that everyone knows its about the oil.

[j-whitman]

haoli25,,,, Yep, it''s like "How to destroy American Strategic Intrests the Easy Way & Escelate Global Terrorism" -- Calling a War against the Evils of Islam"

[ioweign]

I don''''t see the problem with it. These people have been at it for like 3000 yrs. Lets try something new, like using a Mediator , cause they WONT get it done themsleves. I remember when I was over there while in the Military and most of these people are uneducated and at best, childish.

Posted by DSR57 at 09:16 AM : Jun 01, 2008


Then treat them like those newly discovered tribes in the Amazon - leave them alone - oh yeah, the oil...

[jd2408]

So you don''''''''t like the idea of the Citizen''''''''s of IRAQ deciding these issues? Can I ask you exactly who or what bestowed upon you fascist the power to make such decisions for these people?? Sieg Heil Bush


Posted by MCVet

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I don''''t see the problem with it. These people have been at it for like 3000 yrs. Lets try something new, like using a Mediator , cause they WONT get it done themsleves. I remember when I was over there while in the Military and most of these people are uneducated and at best, childish.

Posted by DSR57 at 09:16 AM : Jun 01, 2008
+ report ab
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We have no right to dictate to these people what their foreign policies should be. We have no right to be there in the first place and if they want us out we should get out.

More and more the world is viewing us as a country out of control and driven by greed and corruption. It is sad what only 8 years have done to us. I hope come January we can look forward to a country that cares about their people and not one that feels they rule the world. Its time we stop playing God.

[veteran72]

most of these people are uneducated and at best, childish.
-----------------------------------------------------Posted by DSR57 at 09:16 AM : Jun 01, 2008
+ report abuse

As opposed to Low IQ, Dullard, Mouth-Breathing, Religious Reich Taliban Neocons.........you know, the "Smart Guys"........LMMFAO.....

[jd2408]

Although U.S. officials insist they are not seeking permanent bases, suspicion runs deep among many Iraqis that the Americans want to keep at least some troops in the country for many years.
-------------------------------
Now why would they think that? After all, were not known to every do that. Are we ???

[dsr57]

So you don''''t like the idea of the Citizen''''s of IRAQ deciding these issues? Can I ask you exactly who or what bestowed upon you fascist the power to make such decisions for these people?? Sieg Heil Bush


Posted by MCVet

---------------------------------------------------
I don''t see the problem with it. These people have been at it for like 3000 yrs. Lets try something new, like using a Mediator , cause they WONT get it done themsleves. I remember when I was over there while in the Military and most of these people are uneducated and at best, childish.

[skyk-2009]

I know Bush and his fellow Republican''s find this very hard to understand but you can''t just walk into a nation like this and order people around. You can''t use, what is without a doubt the best Military in the World, to force people to do things your way. These people, as is the case with ALL free people, must find their OWN way. If they, as they so obviously do, want that to be without our help, then we need to back off and let them work this out for themselves. ALL our Allies who helped us put down Saddam told us that in the begining... IT''s easy, having lived amoung them my entire life, to understand why someone for Texas would think they have the answers for these people but it''s just not reality.

[mcvet]

Sadr, like his father and others before him, have been working towards an Islamic state, similar in operation as Iran. Of Course Iran is backing his influence in Iraq. For Iraq to be truly free it must dissociate itself from all Iranian Influence, including Sadr and his Iranian supported military and political organizations.


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Posted by sevenveils at 04:58 PM : May 31, 2008
+ report abuse

So you don''t like the idea of the Citizen''s of IRAQ deciding these issues? Can I ask you exactly who or what bestowed upon you fascist the power to make such decisions for these people?? Sieg Heil Bush

[floydzeppl]

Iraq leaders meet with Iran and Bush says fine; Iraq is a free and sovereign nation. The people want a vote on this treaty. Does Bush''''s position mean that if they vote againist it, that he will respect their vote?

Posted by ramos937 at 06:54 AM : Jun 01, 2008
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No, it doesn''t. Bush only likes "democracy" when its a puppet to America. Remember, he didn''t like the democratic vote that elected Hamas.

[ramos937]

Iraq leaders meet with Iran and Bush says fine; Iraq is a free and sovereign nation. The people want a vote on this treaty. Does Bush''s position mean that if they vote againist it, that he will respect their vote?

[haoli25]

Re: "Who really gives a flying f@uck what the people of Iraq want or need?"

Posted by haoli25

Well, there''''s the Iraqis, their neighbors in the region, and people of integrity around the globe. That''''s about it. Posted by FeelFree4U

Re: Which neighbors would those be? Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, Turkey?
The people of integrity around the world have recognized this sham of a war by the U.S. and have avoided the Iraq Civil War completely. And the people of Iraq have not been able to reach a consensus even on the smell of ***.
Care to try again?

[formrusmcsgt]

What doesn''''t the Bush administration understand about us NOT being wanted in Iraq,by the Iraqis or the American people????????

Posted by walkman56 at 02:09 AM : Jun 01, 2008

Countries that practice hegemony don''t really care about the occupied''s opinions.

[feelfree4u]

%u201CWhy we stand for immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq%u201D

%u201CTHE U.S. occupation of Iraq has not liberated the Iraqi people, but has made life worse for most Iraqis.%u201D

%u201CTens of thousands of U.S. service people have been killed or maimed, and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of the U.S. invasion in 2003, the ongoing occupation, and the violence unleashed by them.%u201D

%u201CIraq''s infrastructure has been destroyed, and U.S. plans for reconstruction abandoned. There is less electricity, less clean drinking water, and more unemployment today than before the U.S. invasion.%u201D

%u201CAll of the justifications initially provided by the U.S. for waging war on Iraq have been exposed as lies; the real reasons for the invasion %u2014 to control Iraq''s oil reserves and to increase U.S. strategic influence in the region %u2014 now stand revealed.%u201D

%u201CThe Bush administration has insisted again and again that stability, democracy, and prosperity are around the next bend in the road%u2026But the U.S. has deliberately stoked sectarian divisions in its ongoing attempt to install a U.S.-friendly regime, thus driving Iraq towards civil war.%u201D

%u201CWe call on the U.S. to get out of Iraq %u2014 not in six months, not in a year, but now.%u201D

www.ipetitions.com/petition/OutNow

[walkman56]

Let''s here McCain explain this one. We''re winning what and where? Anyone with access to youtube shoulkd send this picture anywhere and everywhere.

[walkman56]

This picture tells it all. What doesn''t the Bush administration understand about us NOT being wanted in Iraq,by the Iraqis or the American people????????Get the hell out of Iraq now!!!!!!!!

[gce65]

No way Maliki''s govt would hold a referendum. No way he''d trust his lapdog Bush-supporting policies to democracy.

[randynason]

Maybe we could take the embassy in Iraq that has to date cost $700,000,000.00 and convert it into a low-income apartment building for amputees. -heh-
This is in answer to the Iraqis concern that the U.S. is going to remain in Iraq indefinately. Oh, no. no no... just until the oil is gone.

[feelfree4u]

Re: "Who really gives a flying f@uck what the people of Iraq want or need?"

Posted by haoli25

Well, there''s the Iraqis, their neighbors in the region, and people of integrity around the globe. That''s about it.

###

Re: %u201CI''ve fallen and I don''t want to get up.%u201D

Very good!

[veteran72]

"I may not be a smart man, Jenny, but I know what an inside job is"

9/11WasAnInsideJob.com