Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
October 17, 2008
By Matthew Lee and Jennifer Loven, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has launched a top-level lobbying campaign to persuade skeptical U.S. lawmakers and disapproving Iraqi politicians to support a security agreement governing the continued presence of American troops in Iraq.
Although congressional approval is not legally required, U.S. lawmakers' support is considered crucial for an agreement to go forward. In Iraq, where the deal must pass through several complex layers of approval, the going is considered even tougher.
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Bush's national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, are among those reaching out to key members of Congress. Rice also is pressing senior Iraqi leaders to accept the deal.
The agreement includes a timeline for U.S. withdrawal by 2012 and a crucial but unpopular compromise that gives Iraq limited ability to try U.S. contractors or soldiers for major crimes committed off-duty and off-base, officials said yesterday.
The campaigns of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, both on Senate committees that deal with the issue, have been briefed on the draft, although neither candidate has signaled a position publicly.
Rice on Wednesday called senior Iraqi leaders, pressing them to accept the deal that contains elements that many in Baghdad see as a violation of their country's sovereignty, officials said.
"The Iraqis are considering the text," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We are talking to the Iraqis."
A statement from Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi's office said he and Rice discussed "ways to promote the agreement in line with the interests of the Iraqi people and to guarantee all their rights." Abdul-Mahdi also met yesterday with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker, officials said.
U.S. officials said Rice and Crocker told the Iraqis that the agreement was critical for U.S.-Iraq relations and that it was the final offer the administration was willing to make. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic conversations.
The administration's greatest concern for the deal's future involves not Congress but Iraq's fractured political system. There is some pessimism in Washington that the agreement will survive the Iraqi approval process.
The administration had hoped to conclude the agreement by the end of July, to leave plenty of time to sell it before the current U.N. mandate for the U.S.-led international force in Iraq expires Dec. 31. Now it has less than three months to go before that legal cover for U.S. forces disappears.
The Washington Post reported last night that U.S. negotiators in Iraq, along with Crocker and Gen. Ray Odierno, the U.S. commander there, would go over the text of the proposed agreement with senior Senate and House aides this morning in a video conference at the White House. Congressional attendance has been limited to 12 people from the leadership and the two relevant committees in the House and Senate, the Post reported.
Some U.S. lawmakers have deep concerns about allowing Iraq's judicial system to have even limited authority over American soldiers.
Pentagon officials also have expressed concern, but Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said yesterday that Gates accepted the agreement. "I don't think the secretary would be making phone calls in support of the document if he didn't believe it adequately protected our forces in Iraq," Morrell said.
Other provisions of the draft give Iraqis a far greater role in U.S. military operations than at any time during the nearly six-year war. American troops would no longer be allowed to detain suspects or search homes without Iraqi legal authorization except in active combat.
In addition, anyone detained by the Americans must be handed over to the Iraqis within 24 hours, and all detainees currently held by the United States must be released or transferred to Iraqi control.
October 17, 2008
By Matthew Lee and Jennifer Loven, Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has launched a top-level lobbying campaign to persuade skeptical U.S. lawmakers and disapproving Iraqi politicians to support a security agreement governing the continued presence of American troops in Iraq.
Although congressional approval is not legally required, U.S. lawmakers' support is considered crucial for an agreement to go forward. In Iraq, where the deal must pass through several complex layers of approval, the going is considered even tougher.
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Bush's national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, are among those reaching out to key members of Congress. Rice also is pressing senior Iraqi leaders to accept the deal.
The agreement includes a timeline for U.S. withdrawal by 2012 and a crucial but unpopular compromise that gives Iraq limited ability to try U.S. contractors or soldiers for major crimes committed off-duty and off-base, officials said yesterday.
The campaigns of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, both on Senate committees that deal with the issue, have been briefed on the draft, although neither candidate has signaled a position publicly.
Rice on Wednesday called senior Iraqi leaders, pressing them to accept the deal that contains elements that many in Baghdad see as a violation of their country's sovereignty, officials said.
"The Iraqis are considering the text," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We are talking to the Iraqis."
A statement from Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi's office said he and Rice discussed "ways to promote the agreement in line with the interests of the Iraqi people and to guarantee all their rights." Abdul-Mahdi also met yesterday with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker, officials said.
U.S. officials said Rice and Crocker told the Iraqis that the agreement was critical for U.S.-Iraq relations and that it was the final offer the administration was willing to make. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic conversations.
The administration's greatest concern for the deal's future involves not Congress but Iraq's fractured political system. There is some pessimism in Washington that the agreement will survive the Iraqi approval process.
The administration had hoped to conclude the agreement by the end of July, to leave plenty of time to sell it before the current U.N. mandate for the U.S.-led international force in Iraq expires Dec. 31. Now it has less than three months to go before that legal cover for U.S. forces disappears.
The Washington Post reported last night that U.S. negotiators in Iraq, along with Crocker and Gen. Ray Odierno, the U.S. commander there, would go over the text of the proposed agreement with senior Senate and House aides this morning in a video conference at the White House. Congressional attendance has been limited to 12 people from the leadership and the two relevant committees in the House and Senate, the Post reported.
Some U.S. lawmakers have deep concerns about allowing Iraq's judicial system to have even limited authority over American soldiers.
Pentagon officials also have expressed concern, but Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said yesterday that Gates accepted the agreement. "I don't think the secretary would be making phone calls in support of the document if he didn't believe it adequately protected our forces in Iraq," Morrell said.
Other provisions of the draft give Iraqis a far greater role in U.S. military operations than at any time during the nearly six-year war. American troops would no longer be allowed to detain suspects or search homes without Iraqi legal authorization except in active combat.
In addition, anyone detained by the Americans must be handed over to the Iraqis within 24 hours, and all detainees currently held by the United States must be released or transferred to Iraqi control.