Iraqi Pols Approve U.S. Troop Pact

After Concessions, Sunni Bloc Backs Measure To Keep Forces In Country 3 More Years

(CBS/AP)  The Iraqi parliament approved Thursday a security pact with the United States that allows American troops to stay in the country for three more years.

The Iraqi government's Shiite bloc reached an agreement earlier in the day with a group of mostly Sunni lawmakers to secure the measure's passage.

In exchange for their vote, the Sunnis won a major concession from the pact's staunch supporters; a national referendum will be held on the agreement.

Salim Abdullah, the spokesman for the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, earlier confirmed that a deal was reached and that his 44-seat bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, would support the security pact in Thursday's vote.

He said the agreement met the demand by his bloc and smaller groups that a referendum on the pact be held by July 30. That means the deal could be approved by Parliament, but torpedoed by a "no" vote in the referendum.

Shiite lawmakers Khalid al-Attiyah, Sami al-Askari and Ali al-Adeeb told the Associate Press that the deal did not include two other key Sunni demands: the repeal of a law designed to weed out former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, and the dissolution of a special court that tried the dictator and top officials of his regime. Saddam was sentenced to death and executed in 2006.

The security pact meets an Iraqi goal of a clear timetable for the departure of American forces and has been described by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as a path toward full sovereignty for Iraq.

White House press secretary Dana Perino called the vote "an incredible success story for our military and for the Iraqi Security Forces."

"The June 2009 date is consistent with the Joint Campaign Plan, and the end of 2011 date should give U.S. forces and the ISF enough time to solidify gains made in the last year," Perino added.

But CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reported from Baghdad that, while most military analysts say the Iraqis are not ready to take over security duties yet, there is broad recognition that the national forces have made huge strides in the last year.

One small but symbolic piece of evidence of that improvement came Thursday as U.S. troops at Falcon Base, south of Baghdad, enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast - alongside their Iraqi counterparts.

Palmer reports that mistrust between American and Iraqi troops is genuinely starting to melt away as they work more closely together.

With the Status of Forces agreement specifying that, essentially, U.S. troops will be confined to their bases in Iraq as of June 2009, those Iraqi counterparts are now mere months away from taking the lead.

The parliamentary debate over the proposal was subsumed by sectarian-based disputes among political factions that have stalled efforts to achieve national reconciliation nearly six years after Saddam's ouster. The haggling among political factions delayed the vote, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday.

Iraq's Shiites and Kurds, who comprise about 80 percent of Iraq's 27 million people, were the target of massacres and other atrocities under Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime. Grievances run deep, and caving in to Sunni demands on the special court and the Baathist law could have produced voter backlash ahead of provincial and general elections in 2009.

Lawmakers were under additional pressure to vote on the security pact because the legislature is expected to go into recess in the next few days because of an Islamic holiday.

Now that parliament has approved the pact, it must be ratified by the Presidential Council, whose three members each have veto power.

The U.N. mandate governing the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq expires Dec. 31, and the pact will provide legal cover for the troops to remain.

Under the deal, U.S. forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30 and the entire country by Jan. 1, 2012. Iraq will also have strict oversight over U.S. forces. The U.N. mandate that currently governs American troops gives them freer rein, leading to Iraqi complaints that they are an occupying force intent on preserving U.S. interests in the Middle East.

Earlier, al-Maliki's ruling coalition appeared to be assured of a slim majority in the legislature of about 140 seats. But he sought a bigger win that transcends religious and sectarian divisions and reinforces the legitimacy of the pact. He achieved that wide margin with the Sunni bloc's votes.

The wide margin met the demands of the country's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who had indicated that the deal would be acceptable only if passed by a comfortable majority. The cleric is revered by Iraq's majority Shiites, and he could have sunk the deal if he had publicly spoken against it.

[evian_ycnan]

Yes I remember President Eisenhower when he warned us about the military-industrial complex. I was too young to fully appreciate what a military-industrial complex was. Now I know and it is evil. Eisenhower was right. It is the biggest threat to the United States and it is destroying our country.

Posted by jgunther7 at 03:23 PM : Nov 28, 2008

--------------

Congratulations! Here`s your cookie. You have nailed the problem on the head. The military is no longer a means to the end of protecting the country... it IS the country; it is the ends.

More than 1/2 of gov''t expenditures on on the military. It has its own laws and its own courts. It is a system that is counter to the very principles it is trying to protect and it ALREADY runs the country.

You are correct, and you are too late.

[babooph]

Wow -our stooges living in the "green zone" voted our way -I AM SO SURPISED!!

[jgunther7]

Yes I remember President Eisenhower when he warned us about the military-industrial complex. I was too young to fully appreciate what a military-industrial complex was. Now I know and it is evil. Eisenhower was right. It is the biggest threat to the United States and it is destroying our country.

[ziaian]

Again, CBS, repeating AP and other media calls Moqtada Al Sadr and his supporters +anti-American;. I read all their statements and do not see any +anti-American; word! Is asking foreign troops to leave your country +anti-American;? Are millions of Americans also asking the troops to leave Iraq +anti-American;? Is President-elect Barack Obama +anti-American ;?
Was President Eisenhower who warned us against the military-industrial complex (who is behind the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and everywhere else) anti-American?
Shodja Ziaian
Shodja Ziaian

[libsh8theusa]

Winning Isn''t News
By INVESTOR''S BUSINESS DAILY

Iraq:
What would happen if the U.S. won a war but the media didn''t tell the
American public?
Apparently, we have to rely on a British newspaper for the
news that we''ve defeated the last remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq .

London''s Sunday Times called it "the culmination of one of the most
spectacular victories of the war on terror." A terrorist force that once
numbered more than 12,000, with strongholds in the west and central regions
of Iraq, has over two years been reduced to a mere 1,200 fighters, backed
against the wall in the northern city of Mosul.

The destruction of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) is one of the most unlikely and
unforeseen events in the long history of American warfare.

We can thank
President Bush''s surge strategy,
in which he bucked both Republican and
Democratic leaders in Washington by increasing our forces there instead of
surrendering.

We can also thank the leadership of the new general he placed in charge
there, David Petraeus, who may be the foremost expert in the world on
counter-insurgency warfare. And we can thank those serving in our military
in Iraq who engaged local Iraqi tribal leaders and convinced them
America was their friend and AQI their enemy.

Al-Qaida''s loss of the hearts and minds of ordinary Iraqis began in Anbar
Province, which had been written off as a basket case, and spread out from
there.

[sfcusarmy1]

ConDumbistan- And just so you know, Us welfare cases and deadbeats in the military have just as many taxes taken out of our checks as you do. ***!

[sfcusarmy1]

ConDumbistan- The US military welfare program is trying to assure themselves 3 more years of welfare checks and other US taxpayer handouts. To all that have had the misfortune of working with retired military deadbeats in the private sector, you know exactly what I mean.
-------------------------------------------
You are a true P.O.S.

[sfcusarmy1]

pirmin3 - puppet government? You must not remember all the purple stained fingers of the Iraqi people on election day. Maybe a puppet for the Iraqi people.

[ajayvee]

The American Forces will leave Iraq when Israel orders them to and not a minute sooner. The illusion that it''s the President''s decision is just face-saving hogwash. And the sooner we admit to that humiliating fact, the sooner we MAY find the collective b*lls to do something about it.

[metsobitso]

Problem is, they can%u2019t build up the Iraqi defence forces, because the first thing they would do is throw the US forces out of the country. All we can do is keep them defenceless and encourage them to squabble amongst themselves. If the Iraqis ever get back together, like they did under Hussein, we are finished.

[pirmin3]

I wonder how many pallets of $100 bills of taxpayer money it took to buy the legislators of this puppet government.

[downtowner97]

For 8 years Bush''s fans blamed Clinton for everything that was wrong in the world. Now they say it''s Obama''s problem. Was there ever any moment in 8 years where Bush was in charge and responsible for the welfare of our country?

My favorite Bush moment was when he was at a press gathering and pretended to be looking in the podium and under the chairs for WMD''s. It was supposed to be funny, but looked more like a confession.

[metsobitso]

Does this mean that after three years we will have to start paying for the Iraqi oil that we are taking?

[nearl4511]

Funny how low the bar has fallen to be considered Messiah.

All you apparently have to be capable of is reason to fit the bill.

[biap64]

This sham "democracy" is based more on bribery than anything else. And, when the bribery stops, Iraq''''''''s "democracy" (? Iraq is under sharia law) will end." Where did you get the idea that Iraq is under Sharia law...other than some cultural observance, Iraqis like music, fast cars, smoking cigarettes and generally having a good time. The Iraqi situation is changing so fast that they are now planning to build a subway...no, not the 6" tuna salad sandwich selling kind. There is no turning back now.

[boandco]

The Iraq invasion is no more than armed robbery. Like most criminals, we come up with convoluted logic that justifies our taking other peoples wealth. The US military, or the military industrial complex, is no more than our gangster type mercenaries. All this nonsense about democracy or helping mankind is hogwash, we are there for the money, and for the oil.

[realtime09]

Obama may certainly decide to scrap or alter quickly trumped up, "agreements". We don''t want the current administration trying to railroad the U.S. as per the last F-----g 8 years.

Pact schmact. Har de har.

BYE BYE W.

[motown67usa]

Some winners and losers from this vote. First the Sadrists show once again that they are on the outside looking in. They stood against the agreement, but never had the votes to stop it. Not only that, they%u2019re running on being nationalists and anti-American, but it%u2019s Prime Minister Maliki that has usurped that from them. Sunnis, they agreed to vote on the deal for a resolution on reconciliation and a referendum on the SOFA. The Kurds and Shiites still run the government and don%u2019t care about reconciliation. The Sunnis are like a stepchild. Last big loser, Pres. Bush. He said he refused to agree to any timetable for a withdrawal, but that%u2019s exactly what he just agreed to. The Iraqis knew he wanted a SOFA before he left office so they were able to get just about everything they asked for. Finally, the big winner, Maliki. He can now say he told the Americans to leave. This will help him out in the upcoming elections. The problem, everyone is now scared of his power and the Supreme Council and the Kurds were trying to unseat him before the vote. For more see: http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/

[runningralph]

A functioning democracy in Iraq is a desirable goal for Western civilization. If Iraq can make democracy and free enterprise work, it will take some of the impetus away from the jihadists. However, the odds are slim in a region that is vulnerable to Islamic terrorism. Islam authorizes crime, and exhorts people to commit atrocities and promises heavenly rewards to murderers. In this toxic culture, the type of government most likely to be able to hold on to power is a brutal dictatorship. All Western civilization can do is try to foster democracy.

[downtowner97]

Now all we need to do is sell them all our weapons on our way out so they can live happily ever after.