Majority Of Iraqi Legislators Call For Timetable For U.S. Withdrawal

In a letter to Congress, dovetailing with yesterday's testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight, thirty-one Iraqi legislators, representing a majority of the Iraq Parliament, have expressed "widespread disapproval of the proposed U.S.-Iraq security agreement if it does not include a specific timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. military troops."

We, the undersigned members of the council, wish to confirm your concerns that any international agreement that is not ratified by the Iraqi legislative power is considered unconstitutional and illegal, in accordance with the current rulings and laws of the Iraqi Republic. Furthermore, any treaty, agreement or "executive agreement" that is signed between Iraq and the United States will not be legal and will not enter the stage of implementation without first being ratified by the Council of Representatives, in accordance with Article 61 of Section Four of the Iraqi constitution, which gives the Iraqi government's legislative power, represented by the Council of Representatives, the exclusive right to ratify international treaties and agreements.

Likewise, we wish to inform you that the majority of Iraqi representatives strongly reject any military-security, economic, commercial, agricultural, investment or political agreement with the United States that is not linked to clear mechanisms that obligate the occupying American military forces to fully withdraw from Iraq, in accordance with a declared timetable and without leaving behind any military bases, soldiers or hired fighters.

The chorus of disapproval is of substantial consequence, as it will require a two-thirds majority of the Iraqi Council of Representatives to ratify the security agreement that is currently being hashed out by Iraq and the United States. Congressman Bill Delahunt, who impaneled yesterday's hearings, has co-sponsored a bill with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro that "bars funding for any agreement that has not been approved by Congress."

Comments

[JoeBlough]

Well, it's about time the Iraqis stood up for themselves. They have been hiding under Americas' skirts for too many years. Maybe this is the year they move to the grown-ups table.

[scotterb]

I'm constantly amazed by how shallow the reporting is about Iraq, and how US policy has shifted away from the original goals to one of defining success so far down that when we leave we can save face. The fact is that Iran has won in Iraq. At some point we'll have to either implicitly accept that, or, more smartly, actually engage Iran in trying to protect some basic US interests. The Saudis and Kurds are already doing that (Saudis with regard to Iraqi Sunnis) and that seems to be helping them; Iranian-Kurdish relations are good, which suggests Kurds will retain autonomy for quite some time.
http://scotterb.wordpress.com (I've written on this on my blog: June 2nd, "Iranian end game in Iraq," and May 25 "Iraq myths and realities.­" Click my blog and go to those dates if you're interested.

[JoeBlough]

We no longer have the money or the resources to "protect some basic US interests". We blew it. Thank you Bush/Cheney/McCain.

[gakabani]

Teh guy mus be seeing pigs flying. AMERIKA WILL NEVER GIVE UP IRAQI OIL.

[mamacat]

Well, I watched a whole lot of news, including ABC, NBC, BBC, NPR, and a local news outlet, and not a single one of them mentioned that the Iraqis have been asking the U.S. to get out of their country.
That seems more than a little strange to me. Maybe, unless it is the honcho, Maliki, who is saying it, it doesn't count?
Even if they don't make it their lead story, couldn't someone, somewhere, be reporting on this? How about the comedy shows? Surely Stewart or Colbert could have fun with this one?
It seems to me that something like this should be part of the national debate on what our relationship with Iraq should be. Or, whether we should even have a relationship with Iraq, beyond the normal diplomatic relations that two states usually have.
So far, only 70% of Americans want out of Iraq. Make this kind of thing widely known, and maybe the number will go up to 95%.

[NoFactsJustTruth]

An agreement signed by preznutz duhbya and his puppet al-Maliki, but NOT approved by OUR Congress or the Iraq Parliament has the same worth as used toilet paper.

It means NOTHING to the next administration.

[Binckeslaw]

Two important facts are never disclosed by the American corporate owned media. The first concerns where America gets her imported oil. The U.S. gets most of its imported oil from Canada. Mexico is our second biggest supplier. Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are nearly tied for third. Nigeria is fifth. Notice how little we actually import from the middle east. The second piece of information that Americans don't hear from American media but can learn from the European press is that most of the turmoil in Iraq is related to the issue of oil. One of the disputes is whether one central government or three regional states within the central government will control the oil in each region. The second and most important issue is about the ownership of the oil. Most Iraqi's want to continue to own the oil and license its distribution. The American sponsored government officials, who are in the minority but also enjoy having the US military behind them, want to assign ownership to international oil companies and limit Iraqi participation to getting royalties. Isn't it time for Americans to learn the truth?-

[getoffmedz]

Not only is the Bush/Cheney crime wave defying the will of the American people it is defying the will of another sovereign country, Iraq.

They have been formally calling for the U.S. to leave for the past 18 months.

Want more of this insanity? Vote for John McCain.

[Snerdgronk]

"W": When I said Sovereign, I meant sove(R)eign Sove(R)eignty ... In otherwords, sove(R)eignty ... heh-heh-heh-heh ...

Snerd

[forpeace]

*

Good for Iraqis.

*

[Bluedog12]

Damn forigners who in the hell do they think they are? Free decision making is not the kind of democracy Neocons want. These Iraqi legislators are nothing more than democratic dead enders.

[mamacat]

I am very glad to see this news item being reported on.

The Iraqi legislature did almost the exact same thing in May, 2007, but of course Bush ignored them. Imagine, we could have saved hundreds of American and coalition lives, and hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars, if we had just done what the Iraqis want us to do, 13 months ago.

[blueshield]

I'm way out of my depth here, but I wouldn't be surprised if the recent run up in oil prices has a fair amount to do with this. The media's all saying it's "tensions in the MIddle East", but I can't find any new tensions anywhere but one. The trillion dollar Iraq oil treasure we've been counting on (remember, Rummie said it would pay all our expenses) is looking very shaky if the Iraqi's start to get their act together and exert some national control.

[dmack]

And remember, according to the Geneva Convention, it is the responsibility of the occupying force to refurbish the infrastructure. The U.S. can't, be the same treaty, take any resources from a country it occupies, except for the improvement of that country. We legally can't raid their resource, oil. So you see, that was a false claim by Rummie, Cheney, and anyone else who made such a statement.

[dmack]

This is a suprising display of intestinal fortitude. Iraq seemingly understands the conflict of interest when you have a president tied to oil companies, condoning no-bid contracts to oil companies with whom he is linked. They understand that this president with ties to oil coorporations began an illegal war, which had bi-partisan majority approval, then allows these oil companies to enter Iraq with intentions of extracting their oil. Iraq is beginning to stand up and take responsibility for itself. They don't want to be another S. Korea, Germany, Japan, or any other country that has a permanent U.S. military force.

[aperezfl]

Well, those Iraqi legislators are obv terrorists. Or they're waving the white flag.

[MadJeffersonian]

Bring the troops HOME, especially if they are not wanted there.

We could use that money at home, too.