Well, here’s an interesting development. Some Iraqi government officials are ready to ask the U.S. to remove its forces from Iraq or to severely limit its operations. They are upset at what they call a demand from the Bush administration the allow about sixty bases in Iraq for an extended period of time.
The current agreement that allows U.S. forces in Iraq is a United Nations mandate, which will expire at the end of this year. The U.S. has been trying to negotiate a status of forces agreement that will allow our military to stay. According to a senior Iraqi legislator, Sami al-Askari, "The Americans are making demands that would lead to the colonization of Iraq.” Al-Askari went on to say "If we can't reach a fair agreement, many people think we should say, Goodbye, U.S. troops. We don't need you here anymore."
At the moment al-Askari is speaking for himself and is not articulating the position of Prime Minister Nori al-Malaki or the Iraqi government. However, Malaki recently visited Iran where Ayatollah Ali-Khameni, the supreme leader, urged him to reject any long-term security arrangements with the United States. One of the main fears among Iraqis is that the U.S. intended to use bases in Iraq to launch an invasion of Iran.
Al-Askari is not the only Iraqi legislator who finds the U.S. Negotiating unreasonable. Jalal al-Din al-Saghir, a senior lawmaker from the Supreme Council says "We rejected the whole thing from the beginning.” He described the U.S position as “a new occupation with an Iraqi signature.” These are both senior Iraqi lawmakers and have a good bit of credibility with the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people, who are growing more and more disenchanted with Americans in Iraq.
President Bush has reportedly instructed negotiators to be more flexible in their negotiating stance, in hopes of securing an agreement before our November elections. My personal view is “Good for the Iraqis.” They are standing up to the U.S., as an independent nation should. That was a main goal of our invasion, that Iraq would have an independent democracy that can stand on its own. Now is the time to see if they have the fortitude to do what they say they want to do. They have their interests which may not be aligned with those of the U.S. That is natural and as it should be. It is time for us to leave. Actually, it is past time for us to leave. We should begin immediately a carefully planned withdrawal, so that all U.S. forces are out of Iraq by the time the Next president takes the oath of office.
