Time to Split Iraq?

[nathanael]

Recently Congressmen Mark Kirk and Charlie Dent have warned the President that the Iraq policy is in cul-de-sac. I agree. Iraq should have been split five years ago! This could have saved many thousands of lives, U.S. and Iraqi. It is sad that people today do not know to think critically. With all my shortcomings, for me this was a non-brainer. But I had no family connections to land a job at the State Department. Iraq is not a viable nation if it needs to be kept alive by 500,000 troops, Iraqi and American, internally! The US. Congressmen Mark Kirk and Charlie Dent make a lot of sense. Al-Maliki should be given a month's deadline to make sweeping reforms, or to be pushed out! Separate deals need to be made with the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds for the establishment of independent states. The time is running out! America cannot afford bailing out al-Maliki for years!

[kaima]

Latest on the US- Iraqi SOFA (status of forces agreement for US forces in Iraq)

Iraq and The United States have reportedly settled their main differences over a controversial security agreement.


Under the new agreement the US forces would be immune from prosecution only inside their bases, informed sources close to Iraq's national-security advisor told Press TV.

The US insisted that its troops should be granted immunity from legal prosecution throughout the country but it has had to back down from its previous demand.

Washington has also complied by Baghdad's demand that it should provide a timetable for the withdrawal of its troops form the war-torn country. According the sources the two sides set 2011 as the deadline for US troops' withdrawal from Iraq.

The two countries are negotiating a controversial security deal under the name of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which is to determine the status of US troops in Iraq after their UN mandate expires on December 31.

The controversial deal has met with protests by Iraqi religious and political leaders who say the treaty would change Iraq into a US colony.

After finalization the deal should be sent to the Iraqi parliament for ratification. It is expected that many lawmakers would oppose the agreement.

[kaima]

PM Nouri al-Maliki and the Iraqi parliament have said that to reach a new security pact with the U.S., Iraq's interests should be observed.


Al-Maliki told AP on Monday that neither he nor Iraq's parliament will accept any pact that falls short of the country's national interests.

Maliki warned trying to push such a deal would result in a political discord inside Iraq that could threaten the government.

Abbas Hasan al-Bayati, a member of the Iraqi Parliament's Security and Defense Commission, said the differences over granting immunity to the US soldiers in Iraq were not yet solved and it was the main cause of the current deadlock in US-Iraqi negotiations.

Baghdad and Washington disagree on several key points of the Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA), however, which make the signing of the deal seem unlikely.

The differences revolve around issues such as immunity from prosecution for US soldiers and contractors, the status of Iraqi prisoners in US detention centers, and a deadline for the withdrawal of US forces from the country.

I should have said these two quotations are from www.aljazeera.com

[freetobe]

Kai,
Find it difficult to believe aljazeera and also difficult to believe much that comes from Wasington.
This seems like coulda, shoulda and woulda. Sorry, too late now for this and it is a shame. If what this means is a deal to end this stupid, illegal WAR by dividing Irag, ask the Iragis what they think. If it's a deal to absolve the US and it's military from war crimes ask the American people what they think. Tough choice if left to the citizens of both countries. I am for whatever it takes to finalize the conflict, but not without retributation on the part of Bush/Cheney for the pain and suffering their illegal actions caused the American people. PS Bin Laden has not yet been found or captured during the 8 years Bush/Cheney have been in office. A small aside, Michael Moores' semi doc movie "Farenheit 9/11" depicted W as a totally incompetent oil company exec, who ran companies he headed into the ground. Now that he's the head of the largest free country in the world he's up to his old incompetencies only difference is he is making his oil company pals a fortune. I'm off my soap box now, the past is done, now what do we do to fix this mess? Only positive news from the bailout wizards is the 250K FDIC increase.
Stay tuned to your TV for tomorrow nites VP debate. Will Palin's creationism beliefs be able to solve the largest Wall street debacle ever?

[wayneprice]

Kai,

Having worked the Iraq and Afghan wars for almost 7 years, I have to agree with you. We cannot, and SHOULD NOT be the backbone that Al-Maliki hasn't been able to find since he was put into office. The Kurds up north, do not accept an Iraqi government, they are not Iraqis! Ever since the northern no-fly zone was put in place after Gulf 1, the Kurds have had a viable, functioning government that should be supported, not forced into a shotgun marriage with Iraq.

And as to the Status of Forces Agreement, immunity from prosecution is a real hot button topic. IF US forces commit a crime OUTSIDE of an American base, they will be subject to Iraqi justice.

[kaima]

Wayne, you bring up a few interesting topics. first, the artificial structure of West Asia / middle east countries with borders drawn by the colonial powers across ethnic and natural borders. Presumably the plan was to keep the internal strife high enough - people fighting one another enough that they would not unite against the colonial power. Perhaps we should consider an international conference to re-draw these borders, but imagine the complications when the idea became respectable! Spread to Europe it would reawaken the IRA / Northern Ireland and the Basque desires for separation.

As an engineer I volunteered for a stint in Northern Iraq to build refugee camps right after the zone came into being, but my boss overheard my plans, knew the ropes better than I did, and went there himself. There were a whole lot of us hoping he would not come back; he was the biggest a** I ever worked for, and there were many, many who agreed with me.

On the SOFA, it is sure nice to be protected by it, presuming that US law enforcement would be milder than that in the host country. I appreciated that protection myself. However, I do see it as a breach of sovereignty of the host nation, though it is a good deal for us. I take it as a positive sign that the Iraqi's are driving a hard bargain with us.

As you say, it is a << is a real hot button topic>>.

Kai
PS I am not too interested in searching the military news media for developments on the SOFA, so am happy to see AlJazeera report it. As far as reading AlJazeera as a source, at the very least it is good to see what the other viewpoint is.

My experience in Germany was in construction contract, and there were places where the ABG75 we dealt with said one thing in German and quite the opposite in English. So I had the opportunity more than once to negotiate international agreements on the part of the Great USA. Jeez, I didn't even have a diplomatic passport!