Sunday, July 06, 2008

Easy option is toughest for US

July 6, 2008


Easy option is toughest for US


THERE ARE clear signs that the people of Iraq want nothing to do with the so-called status of forces agreement sought by the US and they simply want the US military to pack up and leave their country. However, the Bush administration does not want to acknowledge since it would mean admitting that it is no longer welcome in Iraq.
The status of forces agreement was actually drawn up even before the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003. It clearly means that colonisation of Iraq was the central objective of the invasion and occupation of that country.
A majority of the people of Iraq have realised this and hence their rejection of the US-drafted status of forces agreement. Looking the other way, the US is continuing to pressure the Iraqi government to sign it regardless of whether the people of the country like it or otherwise.
The Shiite leaders of Iraq are aware of the US determination to force the agreement down the Iraqi throat and hence their call for a national referendum on the issue. Washington is bitterly opposed to the idea because it is aware that the people of Iraq would throw the draft agreement if it was put for a referendum. And that is why it is keeping the contents of the draft document a secret (although the international media have brought out the key details of the draft agreement, which, if signed, would place Iraq under the absolute political, diplomatic and military control of the US and give the US military and its contractors a free hand to behave the way they want in the country without question).
Speaking on behalf of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, the supreme religious leader of Iraq's Shiites, Imam Sadreddin Al Kabandji underlined on Friday that the draft must be made public and it is unacceptable that the government and the US are negotiating it behind closed doors.
Another Sistani aide has publicly called on Baghdad not to sign the agreement..
"If the government signs the deal it has to preserve the interests of the people, not compromise sovereignty and not permit Iraq to be used as a base for attacks on neighbouring countries," said Sheikh Abdul Al Mahdi Al Karbalae.
The Americans would be better off listening to the calls because Sistani and his aides are speaking the language of the people of Iraq and they represent the majority of the population.
All Iraqi parties and politicians, except the Kurds, have said they oppose the agreement. The Kurds, who seem to be moving towards carving out their own independent entity in northern Iraq, are in favour of the agreement. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, insists that the agreement would not compromise Iraqi sovereignty but that argument is a lame duck because the contents of the draft are no longer a secret.
The US faces tough options in Iraq. It could pressure the government into signing the document, but then it would alienate an overwhelming majority of the population of Iraq and that in turn would make life even more difficult for the US forces in the country.
Of course, there is an easy option, which the US does not even want to consider but which Washington would be forced to embrace sooner or later: Pack up and go home.