US-Iraq-Namese Deal Will Mean Perpetual Occupation

The United States and the Green Zone government are negotiating an agreement, a “strategic alliance,” that will effectively establish a permanent US occupation of Iraq-Nam. Reported in yesterday’s Independent, the arrangement would set up 50 permanent US bases in the country, allow US personnel to undertake military action without permission from the Green Zone government, arrest Iraq-Namese citizens at will, and give US personnel immunity from local laws. So much for Iraq-Namese sovereignty if this happens.

The Bush administration is pushing for the agreement to be concluded before he leaves office. That way, the outgoing president can claim to have won his misguided war. Vice-President Cheney’s office is pressing for it, as is US ambassador to the Green Zone government, Ryan Crocker. It would also let John McCain say that his efforts to change US policy in the region have led to success. It would, in reality, permit his desire to occupy the nation for 100 years.

Ali Allawi, who used to be finance minister in Iraq-Nam, wrote in the same paper, “The US is pushing for the enactment of a ‘strategic alliance’ with Iraq, partly as a precondition for supporting Iraq's removal from its sanctioned status under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. It is a treaty under any other name. It has been structured as an alliance partly to avoid subjecting its terms to the approval of the US Senate, and partly to obfuscate its significance.” He added, “A treaty of such singular significance to Iraq cannot be rammed through with less than a few weeks of debate. Otherwise, the proposed strategic alliance will most certainly be a divisive element in Iraqi politics.

However, as Patrick Cockburn notes, the Kurds will probably go along with the agreement -- they like the US military and have done so since the no-fly zones gave them autonomy from the Saddamite regime. The al-Maliki government knows it can’t survive without US support, so rather than stand up for their country, these hacks are likely to agree to the deal to keep their cushy jobs in the cabinet. Even some Sunnis will approve it because the presence of US forces prevents the Shi’ites from running roughshod over them.

However, Moqtada al-Sadr has called on his supporters to protest the agreement every Friday after prayers at the mosque. He is positioning himself as the great defender of Iraq-Namese sovereignty. In forcing this agreement along (and since it isn’t a treaty according to the Busheviks, it can be thrown out the same afternoon the new president takes the oath of office), the US is merely giving Hojatoleslam al-Sadr more influence than he already has. If the agreement is done by the American deadline of July 31, one can expect a very long hot August, courtesy of the Sadrists.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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