Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
October 16, 2008
Pg. 16
By Alissa J. Rubin and Steven Lee Myers
BAGHDAD — Iraqi negotiators are reviewing a revised draft of a long-delayed security agreement to govern the conduct of American forces in Iraq, an Iraqi government spokesman announced Wednesday.
The announcement that there is a new draft, while far from final, indicates that the Iraqis are inching closer to final approval.
The draft includes a previously discussed timeline for the withdrawal of American combat troops, with the troops moving out of Iraq’s cities and towns by the middle of next summer and leaving the country in 2011, the spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said.
The Iraqis did not provide details about the language of the draft, and it is unclear whether it says the pullout would be based on conditions on the ground.
The draft also includes provisions on another knotty issue — whether American soldiers would have immunity from Iraqi law. Senior Iraqi officials said the draft language would give Americans immunity from Iraqi law when they were on military operations but would not apply if they were off duty.
The American government does not view the draft as a final product because it remains subject to approval by three political bodies: the Political Council for National Security, the cabinet and the Parliament.
The White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said: “We are still in discussions with the Iraqis. The Iraqis are in discussions with themselves. And those discussions continue.”
A State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, acknowledged that there was what he called a “text” that was under discussion.
Also on Wednesday, the American military announced that it had killed another leader of the insurgency in Iraq.
Several of the more independent members of Parliament said that the Iraqi government’s intimation that there had been significant progress on the security agreement was overblown.
“In Parliament it will face a lot of opposition,” said Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish lawmaker. “Some of the nationalists won’t like it and some other groups, too. They won’t oppose it as such, but they will say they don’t like this article or that article. Maybe it will pass, but it will take some time.”
“The situation is very muddy right now and none of the neighboring countries are enthusiastic about it,” he added. “Iran is strongly trying either to delay it or not have it signed; Syria is doing the same. Turkey is also not for it to be signed quickly.”
The neighboring countries, especially countries like Syria and Iran that have limited or no diplomatic relations with the United States, view the American troop presence as an interference in the region.
Many Iraqi members of Parliament say that the proposed immunity provisions, which the United States supports, are too broad, and that they want American troops to be subject to Iraqi law for all their actions. The Americans say that their troops must have immunity when on military missions.
Other members of Parliament want a provision that would allow Iraqi officials to search all American shipments coming into the country. Some Iraqis fear that Americans will bring in weapons that could be used to attack neighboring countries. The Iranians have been particularly worried that the United States could launch an attack on their country from Iraqi soil.
Iran and the United States have been saber-rattling for several years as Iran has moved ahead with a program to produce nuclear fuel that many political leaders in the United States and Europe fear could eventually be used to build a bomb.
“The heart of the matter is the jurisdiction over the searching of all cargos that are shipped to Iraq or from Iraq,” said Ali Adeeb, a close ally of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. “There is the possibility that the cargo contains weapons that may hurt Iraq, although the American side committed that no weapons of mass destruction would be sent to Iraq.”
American officials worry that time is running out to get the deal approved before the end of the year, when the United Nations resolution authorizing the American military presence will expire. American military and State Department officials warn that unless the agreement is ratified or the United Nations grants an extension — considered highly unlikely, given the need to persuade the Security Council to agree — American troops would have to halt operations. Troops would be confined to bases; they would not be able to fly air support missions or otherwise participate in any way in combat operations, officials have said.
News of the movement on the security agreement came on a day when the American military announced that soldiers had killed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia’s second in command. The insurgent was identified as Abu Qaswarah, also known as Abu Sara. He directed the group’s operations in northern Iraq, the area of the country that remains the most troubled by Sunni insurgents, the military said.
Abu Qaswarah, a Moroccan, was described as a close associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian exile who founded Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and who was killed in 2006. The group is a homegrown Sunni extremist organization that American intelligence agencies say is led by foreigners.
The military said Abu Qaswarah was killed on Oct. 5 in the Mosul area in the north of Iraq. The area has been the focus of a military operation since last summer when Iraqi and American forces accelerated their efforts to stamp out the insurgency there.
However, the insurgents’ hold has been hard to break, and efforts to wipe out the insurgency have been complicated by ethnic tensions between Kurds and Sunni Arabs in Mosul.
Adding to the volatility, attacks against Christians have increased in the past two weeks and nearly 1,900 Christian families have fled their homes in fear, said Abdul Qadir al-Obaidi, the Iraqi minister of defense.
Arriving in Mosul with a delegation of lawmakers and government ministers, Mr. Obaidi said that the central government was “looking toward Mosul with the intention of determining the cause of the Christian families’ migration.”
On Wednesday, Iraqi security forces cordoned off several neighborhoods where many Christians lived until recently and imposed a curfew. Mr. Obaidi and local security officials said these steps were the first in a newly intensified military operation in the area.
Mosul is the capital of Nineveh Province, which has been a center for Sunni Baathists who once had ties to Saddam Hussein and has been fertile ground for the insurgency.
Alissa J. Rubin reported from Baghdad, and Steven Lee Myers from Washington. Mohamed Hussein contributed reporting from Baghdad, and an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Mosul, Iraq.
October 16, 2008
Pg. 16
By Alissa J. Rubin and Steven Lee Myers
BAGHDAD — Iraqi negotiators are reviewing a revised draft of a long-delayed security agreement to govern the conduct of American forces in Iraq, an Iraqi government spokesman announced Wednesday.
The announcement that there is a new draft, while far from final, indicates that the Iraqis are inching closer to final approval.
The draft includes a previously discussed timeline for the withdrawal of American combat troops, with the troops moving out of Iraq’s cities and towns by the middle of next summer and leaving the country in 2011, the spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said.
The Iraqis did not provide details about the language of the draft, and it is unclear whether it says the pullout would be based on conditions on the ground.
The draft also includes provisions on another knotty issue — whether American soldiers would have immunity from Iraqi law. Senior Iraqi officials said the draft language would give Americans immunity from Iraqi law when they were on military operations but would not apply if they were off duty.
The American government does not view the draft as a final product because it remains subject to approval by three political bodies: the Political Council for National Security, the cabinet and the Parliament.
The White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said: “We are still in discussions with the Iraqis. The Iraqis are in discussions with themselves. And those discussions continue.”
A State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, acknowledged that there was what he called a “text” that was under discussion.
Also on Wednesday, the American military announced that it had killed another leader of the insurgency in Iraq.
Several of the more independent members of Parliament said that the Iraqi government’s intimation that there had been significant progress on the security agreement was overblown.
“In Parliament it will face a lot of opposition,” said Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish lawmaker. “Some of the nationalists won’t like it and some other groups, too. They won’t oppose it as such, but they will say they don’t like this article or that article. Maybe it will pass, but it will take some time.”
“The situation is very muddy right now and none of the neighboring countries are enthusiastic about it,” he added. “Iran is strongly trying either to delay it or not have it signed; Syria is doing the same. Turkey is also not for it to be signed quickly.”
The neighboring countries, especially countries like Syria and Iran that have limited or no diplomatic relations with the United States, view the American troop presence as an interference in the region.
Many Iraqi members of Parliament say that the proposed immunity provisions, which the United States supports, are too broad, and that they want American troops to be subject to Iraqi law for all their actions. The Americans say that their troops must have immunity when on military missions.
Other members of Parliament want a provision that would allow Iraqi officials to search all American shipments coming into the country. Some Iraqis fear that Americans will bring in weapons that could be used to attack neighboring countries. The Iranians have been particularly worried that the United States could launch an attack on their country from Iraqi soil.
Iran and the United States have been saber-rattling for several years as Iran has moved ahead with a program to produce nuclear fuel that many political leaders in the United States and Europe fear could eventually be used to build a bomb.
“The heart of the matter is the jurisdiction over the searching of all cargos that are shipped to Iraq or from Iraq,” said Ali Adeeb, a close ally of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. “There is the possibility that the cargo contains weapons that may hurt Iraq, although the American side committed that no weapons of mass destruction would be sent to Iraq.”
American officials worry that time is running out to get the deal approved before the end of the year, when the United Nations resolution authorizing the American military presence will expire. American military and State Department officials warn that unless the agreement is ratified or the United Nations grants an extension — considered highly unlikely, given the need to persuade the Security Council to agree — American troops would have to halt operations. Troops would be confined to bases; they would not be able to fly air support missions or otherwise participate in any way in combat operations, officials have said.
News of the movement on the security agreement came on a day when the American military announced that soldiers had killed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia’s second in command. The insurgent was identified as Abu Qaswarah, also known as Abu Sara. He directed the group’s operations in northern Iraq, the area of the country that remains the most troubled by Sunni insurgents, the military said.
Abu Qaswarah, a Moroccan, was described as a close associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian exile who founded Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and who was killed in 2006. The group is a homegrown Sunni extremist organization that American intelligence agencies say is led by foreigners.
The military said Abu Qaswarah was killed on Oct. 5 in the Mosul area in the north of Iraq. The area has been the focus of a military operation since last summer when Iraqi and American forces accelerated their efforts to stamp out the insurgency there.
However, the insurgents’ hold has been hard to break, and efforts to wipe out the insurgency have been complicated by ethnic tensions between Kurds and Sunni Arabs in Mosul.
Adding to the volatility, attacks against Christians have increased in the past two weeks and nearly 1,900 Christian families have fled their homes in fear, said Abdul Qadir al-Obaidi, the Iraqi minister of defense.
Arriving in Mosul with a delegation of lawmakers and government ministers, Mr. Obaidi said that the central government was “looking toward Mosul with the intention of determining the cause of the Christian families’ migration.”
On Wednesday, Iraqi security forces cordoned off several neighborhoods where many Christians lived until recently and imposed a curfew. Mr. Obaidi and local security officials said these steps were the first in a newly intensified military operation in the area.
Mosul is the capital of Nineveh Province, which has been a center for Sunni Baathists who once had ties to Saddam Hussein and has been fertile ground for the insurgency.
Alissa J. Rubin reported from Baghdad, and Steven Lee Myers from Washington. Mohamed Hussein contributed reporting from Baghdad, and an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Mosul, Iraq.