The Washington Post has an article about the newly approved Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that was just approved by the Iraqi Parliament. Basically, this thing will set a timetable for withdrawal (or is that a “horizon”?) that will begin with US troops pulling out of towns and cities by June 30th 2010 with all US troops out by January 1, 2011. On top of that, all US bases will be kept in place and will be transferred to the Iraqis once the withdrawal is complete. So…what does this mean in the scheme of things?
After eight years of an endless war, there’s finally some sort of a date to end this entire mess. And finally the Iraqi government seems to be somewhat willing to actually be a government and start taking control of their country instead of parading around their sovereignty but still crawling back to the US whenever things get heated. Unfortunately, that’s still one of the major clauses in the agreement which, should Iraq be attacked or threatened in some way the US is obligated to respond and assist in some way. We don’t get a say in the matter.
Another important part of the SOFA is the inclusion of clauses that allow the Iraqis to prosecute the private military organizations (specifically Blackwater) who don’t operate outside US law but, per their contracts, are immune to any prosecution. This could be read as an almost direct response to the Nisour Square Massacre where 17 Iraqis were killed in Central Baghdad by Blackwater operatives. Personally I don’t have too much problems with that, they should all play by the same rules as anybody else. But there is one that I’m worried about. While on duty US troops are immune, those who are off-duty can be charged with a crime by Iraqi security forces which could cause a lot of problems if a US soldier slips up when not on duty. I’d like to see some more protection for our men in uniform and I think that this loophole will cause some problems for our soldiers.
All in all, I’m kinda torn over this thing. We get a date for withdrawal but it feels as if our hands are tied with clauses and rules that aren’t truly letting the US wipe our hands of this fiasco. What will be interesting to see is if the national referendum fails in July, which would require all US troops to leave immediately, what the US will do. It’ll most likely be one of Obama’s biggest foreign policy decisions.
It’s about damn time. I understand you can’t rush the formation of a government, but at the same time, Iraqi security groups have been around and trained for awhile. They are already the main group in several of the key areas, it’s about damn time the they start playing the point man though. I think it is fair and excellently executed though that the Iraqi government is the one asking us to leave instead of the US saying get your shit together. This is a very big step, though I feel the timetable is a little to lengthy, and I think smaller groups of the military should be on their way back home.
Comment by Tim — December 2, 2008 @ 4:31 PM