Secret US Plan Sets No Time Limit For US Presence In Iraq

The Guardian (U.K.):

A confidential draft agreement covering the future of US forces in Iraq, passed to the Guardian, shows that provision is being made for an open-ended military presence in the country.

The draft strategic framework agreement between the US and Iraqi governments, dated March 7 and marked "secret" and "sensitive", is intended to replace the existing UN mandate and authorises the US to "conduct military operations in Iraq and to detain individuals when necessary for imperative reasons of security" without time limit.

The authorisation is described as "temporary" and the agreement says the US "does not desire permanent bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq". But the absence of a time limit or restrictions on the US and other coalition forces - including the British - in the country means it is likely to be strongly opposed in Iraq and the US.

Read the whole story: The Guardian (U.K.)

Comments

[devild1nosaur]

I'm sorry, but somebody thought this was a secret? LOL!
as inept as these morons in the Cheney Administration are, the prospect of forever war only makes them lick their sweaty jowls in eager anticipation at the profits to be made in perpetually fighting a battle that will never be completely extinguished. why stop the fun because a few clumsy National Guardsmen get waxed? Can you say "acceptable losses?" how about "expendable?" or is the term "cannon fodder" more appropriate?? the Dickster's comment is extremely telling: "they volunteered."
think him, George, Condi, Betrayus, or the rest of these maggots lose a minute's sleep over the men and women they've sent to certain doom? Their callouses have callouses!
that's why they set it up this way. not having an exit strategy should have been a clue...

[Dandy12]

SmackwaterJack doesn't get to 4, being Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie, or it's all over.

When the Dems arrive in '09 God willing, who cares about what this BushCo group puts together... It can't be a treaty. Even treaties are broken. We need to pack our bags, and get back to the business of this plundered and ravaged country!

[speakingtruth2power]

I read this as another step towards war with Iran

rather than justifying the status quo within Iraq.

Darth has promised the Likudists and Saudis

we will destroy Iran's energy capabilities and

diminish Iran's influence in the Middle East.

[robeson]

Shhhhhhhh, it's a secret.

[escobar]

What is so secret?!!
They published the goals of a "New Roman Empire" very clearly with the PNAC report on a vision of the future without the USSR long ago.
Now we have fools who accept the idea that "WE" as a country have the "Right" nay...the "Obligation" to install some government sympathetic to the idea that international oil corporations should take 80% of the petro revenues and leave 20% to the puppet government to maintain control of their own impoverished masses. Of course, this ignores the fact that the war was based on lies and they let Bin Laden escape.
It you do not support the PNAC agenda or the idea that every Muslim is a potential threat to moronic cowards living on the other side of the planet, you become an object of scorn.
At the Nuremburg trials the Nazis explained this is how they were able to crush the intellectuals as traitors and unpatriotic. This time the Neo-nazis do not represent our national interest but some totalitarian international capitalist dream. The stupid and intellectually lazy feel comfortable hiding their fear with bravado against reason.

[SmackwaterJack]

Secret my arse, only for those that were like, not paying attention, gullible, and have blind faith, Or those that are completely apathetic to the world around them.

1) Afganistan was part one.

2) Iraq was part two.

3) Iran is part three.

And that's no secret.

[rbspickles]

As long as there is oil to be pumped, our soldiers will be there to die for it. Make no mistake about that!

[Mark701]

No surprise here. For anyone who has followed this fiasco it was obvious that Bush/Rumsfeld/Cheney never planned for us to leave.

[2warvet]

Doesn't it bother anyone that "Secret" and "Confidential" documents are being leaked to the press? I find it amazing that many on this post where all up in arms when the (not so) "secert agent" was outed and now fall silent about this.

When secerts get leaked bad things happen for all involved and it hurts my heart when I see crap like this. I weep for the future of this nation if our secerts are going to be used for politics and political gain.

This is not a left, right, democrat or republican thing. It is an American thing.

[rdowli]

It doesn't bother me at all. Rather, I'm grateful for people who take the risk to leak things like this. This is the knd of thing that people need to be aware of. It's an indication of the contempt in which this administration holds the American & Iraqi people.

[Joeblue]

Valery Plame is a person not a piece of paper. Rove, Buch, and Cheny probably got people killed for outing her operation. No such thing happened here. You are an idiot.

[2warvet]

And what you say is as I would expect from someone like you. IF Plames status as a "secert agent" were compromised then how come no one was proscuted for it? And don't give me the Bush cover up crap either. The dems were all over it and if they had even sensed that Bush, Rove, Cheney were even remotely involved it would have been as sharks to blood.

You are a fool to think that when secrets are leaked that it does not have an effect on everyone in this country.

[FogBelter]

It depends what the secrets are ... Plame was an example of an individual outed for Political purposes; ending the work she performed for the US Government; ending her career; and putting an unknown number of foreign assets associated with her mission at risk for imprisonment or death.

That is completely different than a General Pentagon plan aimed at thwarting the will of the American people, who are the Pentagon's Employers.

[VivaZapata]

you can call it imperialism, or you can call it colonialism, or you can simply say it's robbery (yes, the oil), but you can't call it democracy. even if that were the true goal, what hubris! what are we a nation of control freaks? i'll cast my vote for the label of piracy. or you can call it exploitation. or you can call it war profiteering. one might be tempted to say nobody wins, everybody loses, but that's not true. a few crooks have lined their pockets nicely (if that's what winning is).

[lastams]

A new assessment of U.S. policy in Iraq by the same experts who advised the original Iraq Study Group concludes that political progress is " so slow, halting and superficial" that the United States is no closer to being able to leave Iraq than it was a year ago.

The experts reassembled by the US. Institute of Peace, which convened the Iraq Study Group in 2006, went on to state
"The decentralized fragmented political dynamic in Iraq cannot be reversed".

So I guess one man"s "almost back to normal" is another man"s "irreversible fragmented political dynamic".

Hmmmmm, whom to believe?

[Ammobob]

Believe whom you wish, you'll follow your inherent bias anyway. IRAQ is NOT lost and it WILL stabilise in a couple of years. If one of the DEMs takes over, the new Pres will stay the course and reap the VICTORY during his or her tenure. Surrender is NOT an option. But, they won't tell that to people's faces until AFTER they are elected.

[JacobSinger]

Jeez Bob, do you ever apply logic to your reasoning about this, or do you just pick Rush's dropped talking points off his zipper?

Engage your brain; any idiot that takes the helm of this with intent of "staying the course" to "reap the victory" is far more mentally challenged than you, as you're just a GOP peon. There's nothing to win, and any stability gained will be lost in a heart beat; no sustainable stability will come to Iraq until the Iraqis sort out their issues on their terms--artifically imposed governmental goals will fall by the wayside the moment we step out of Iraq. Of course, I realize your NeoCon-posioned brain sees that as a fullfillment of the grand plan, but of course like all things NeoCon, it's simply half-baked idiocy.

[Ammobob]

Establishing a base of operations for future contingencies close to the world's trouble spots is a solid strategy. Obama and/or Hillary should be thanking Pres Bush for this forward thinking to redefine ME dynamics. BRAVO!

[serialcoma]

bush has never had a thought in his head that wasn't placed there by some one looking to make money off of other peoples' suffering.

[Hallucinocynic]

Well, manning, maintaining and sustaining those permanent bases is going to get even more expensive in the future. The only way the US will be able to staff those forward positions will be to increase service rosters - which have been stretched already, with recruiting numbers down. So, in order to maintain a ready strike force in the US, and maintain deployment levels in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Colombia, Germany, Turkey, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, will be to reactivate the draft and make conscription a four year commitment. I would think that the overall Army TOO would include at least 6-8 million troops at all times. Of course, the amount of money necessary to support that TOO will mean that an additional $250 billion dollars a year. To ease that burden, American parents should sign over their children at 10 to enter military prep schools that would house, feed and 'educate' their future line or support soldiers. Parents would get a nice tax exemption and cash payment. Having a constant supply of NFGs (new f'ing guys) for the military would then allow for REAL EXPANSION...establish a series of bases in France, the UK and the Baltic; bases in Argentina, South Africa and in even in Israel. Let's clean this world up! Let's make every city an American city! BRAVO!

[Veman]

The only post WWII wars we've had major, prolonged engagement in have been Korea and Vietnam. In both instances, stability has come in the form of a nation, geographically (if not ethnically) divided, with a protracted US military presence; a situation not dissimilar to post WWII Germany. With Sunni (Saudi Arabia w/ US backing) and Shiite (Iran) influence equally divided in the region, a similar situation is likely to arise in Iraq; hence McCain's "100 year presence" expectancy. The sooner the geographical boundaries are set and the profits from the oil fields (not the oil fields themselves - those will undoubtedly remain under US/Western supervision) are somehow divided between Iraqi Sunni and Shiia, the sooner the bulk of our troops will be able to come home and those who remain, will be much safer.

[Ammobob]

Good analysis, and maybe not too far off the mark. But, I have HOPE for CHANGE and UNITY on the Iraqi's parts.

[serialcoma]

Forced on them at gun point by US troops? Bob... did you ever go to school? Perhaps you should.

[JacobSinger]

That's nothing but simplistic thinking, and wrong-minded to boot; please do outline that great strategy as it applied to Vietnam, in detail. I lived through that period of history, and I'm not so easily duped by your dogma.

[robodweeb]

Q And how -- what kind of deadline would you perceive within that resolution?

Bush on the importance of deadlines:

THE PRESIDENT: Well, there will be deadlines within the (use of force) resolution. Our chief negotiator for the United States, our Secretary of State, understands that we must have deadlines. And we're talking days and weeks, not months and years. And that's essential for the security of the world. This man has had 11 years to comply. For 11 long years, he's ignored world opinion. And he's put the credibility of the United Nations on line.

Press Conf. 9/13/02
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020913.html

[robodweeb]

Touring Florida in a last-minute push to get seniors on board, Bush said the May 15 deadline was "important" because "deadlines help people understand there's finality and people need to get after it."

http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3147