A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November, British newspaper The Independent revealed Thursday.
According to the report, the deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, is likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq.
Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which U.S. troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilize Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.
Under the terms of the treaty, the U.S. would retain the long-term use of more than 50 bases in Iraq. American negotiators are also demanding immunity from Iraqi law for U.S. troops and contractors, and a free hand to carry out arrests and conduct military activities in Iraq without consulting the Baghdad government.
The precise nature of the American demands has been kept secret until now, and the leaks are certain to generate an angry backlash in Iraq, said the report.
"It is a terrible breach of our sovereignty," said one Iraqi politician, adding that if the security deal was signed it would delegitimize the government in Baghdad which will be seen as an American pawn.
The U.S. has repeatedly denied that it wants permanent bases in Iraq, but one Iraqi source said, "this is just a tactical subterfuge."
Washington also wants control of Iraqi airspace below 29,000ft and the right to pursue its "war on terror" in Iraq, giving it the authority to arrest anybody it wants and to launch military campaigns without consultation.
According to the report, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is believed to be personally opposed to the terms of the new pact but feels his coalition government cannot stay in power without U.S. backing.
Although Iraqi ministers said they would reject any agreement limiting Iraqi sovereignty, political observers in Baghdad suspect they would sign in the end and simply want to establish their credentials as defenders of Iraq's independence by a show of defiance now.
But the deal also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the United States.
U.S. President George W. Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been justified.
But by perpetuating the U.S. presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw U.S. troops if he is elected president in November.
The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq a victory that he said Obama would throwaway by a premature military withdrawal, said the report.
Currently, the U.S. has 151,000 troops in Iraq and, even after projected withdrawals next month, troop levels will stand at more than 142,000 -- 10,000 more than when the military "surge" began in January 2007.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article