Permanent-Occupation Deal May Be Alive
Jul 31, 2020328K Shares8M Views
Yeah, so, just as I feared,it looks like the Bush/Maliki permanent-occupation deal isn’t dead. From The New York Times:
“„The Iraqis appear to have agreed to allow the Americans to continue to control their airspace because the Iraqis lack the extensive flight control expertise and equipment necessary, said [Kurdish parliamentarian Mahmood] Othman and another member of the Political Council for National Security.
“„When Iraqis say they want their sovereignty respected, they are talking in part about having the power to set the terms of the relationship between the United States and Iraq. For instance, will American soldiers be able to undertake military operations as they see fit, as they do now?
“„The Iraqis are discussing possible compromises.
“„“One idea is to have a joint Iraqi-American committee that would approve all operations,” Mr. Hamoudi said.
Hmmm. Would Multinational Force-Iraq really approve that?Practically speaking, it would give an Iraqi government of, um, uncertain loyaltyaccess to U.S. military planning. Just imagine the outcry if a liberal administration let an Iranian ally into a tactical operations center.
More substantively, it seems from this piece that the Maliki national-security committee — it’s safe to assume its members, um, get money from a certain American agency that has an acronym for its name — might be the mechanism that pushes a deal through, against the wishes of the American and Iraqi legislatures and publics. We’ll see. Information is limited as of now.
Hajra Shannon
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Hajra Shannona is a highly experienced journalist with over 9 years of expertise in news writing, investigative reporting, and political analysis.
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