The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate, John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq Ð a victory that he says Mr Obama would throw away by a premature military withdrawal. . . .
Mr Bush is determined to force the Iraqi government to sign the so-called "strategic alliance" without modifications, by the end of next month. . . .
Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is believed to be personally opposed to the terms of the new pact but feels his coalition government cannot stay in power without US backing.
The deal also risks exacerbating the proxy war being fought between Iran and the United States over who should be more influential in Iraq.
Although Iraqi ministers have said they will reject any agreement limiting Iraqi sovereignty, political observers in Baghdad suspect they will sign in the end and simply want to establish their credentials as defenders of Iraqi independence by a show of defiance now. . . .
The US is adamantly against the new security agreement being put to a referendum in Iraq, suspecting that it would be voted down. . . .
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Enver Masud, "Iraq: Divide and Rule," The Wisdom Fund, October 10, 2006
Thomas Powers, "Iraq: Will We Ever Get Out?," New York Review of Books, April 30, 2008
[Sources in Iraq's parliament told Press TV on Thursday that Washington has offered three-million dollars in bribe to the lawmakers who sign the "framework accord."
Under the agreement, the US would be allowed to set up at least 13 permanent military bases in Iraq and US citizens would be granted immunity from legal prosecution.--"'US bribing Iraqi MPs to sign deal'," Press TV, May 29, 2008]
[The negotiations are shrouded in secrecy and Iraqi officials said they'd been instructed by American officials not to discuss the details. . . .
"Now Iraq is under Chapter 7 and it does not have full sovereignty so when it makes negotiations with the United States, the results won't be fair," said Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish lawmaker. "When the Americans tell you that we won't remove you from Chapter 7 unless you make this treaty with us, this is a precondition.--Leila Fadel, "Iraqi officials worry about security deal with U.S.," McClatchy Newspapers, May 30, 2008]
[The proposed Iraqi-American agreement would provide a legal framework for U.S. troops to remain in Iraq after Dec. 31, when their U.N. mandate expires. Sadr views the pact as a blow to Iraq's sovereignty. His main Shiite rival, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who heads the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq - an influential Shiite political party that is part of Maliki's ruling coalition - has also denounced the plans. Aides to Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, have also expressed concern.--Sudarsan Raghavan, "Shiites Across Iraq Protest U.S. Presence: Demonstrations Seen as Boost to Sadr," Washington Post, May 31, 2008]
[Other lawmakers said negotiations should not resume until after the expiration of the United Nations resolution on United States troops. Otherwise, they said, Iraq would be in too weak a position to negotiate effectively. . . .
The Americans want to continue to have "a free hand" to arrest Iraqis and carry out military operations, and they want authority for more than 50 long-term military bases, Mr. Adeeb said. . . .
American service members in deployments similar to Iraq are subject only to American military law, the official said, adding that American officials wanted to retain control of Iraqi airspace--Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Stephen Farrell, "Growing Opposition to Iraq Security Pact," New York Times, May 31, 2008]
[Under the agreement, Iraqi security institutions such as Defence, Interior and National Security ministries, as well as armament contracts, will be under American supervision for ten years.--Basil Adas, "New agreement lets US strike any country from inside Iraq," gulfnews.com, June 3, 2008]
[A majority of the Iraqi parliament has written to Congress rejecting a long-term security deal with Washington if it is not linked to a requirement that U.S. forces leave, a U.S. lawmaker said Wednesday.--"Iraq lawmakers want US forces out as part of deal," Reuters, June 4, 2008]
Ali Allawi, "This raises huge questions over our independence," Independent, June 5, 2008
[The US is holding hostage some $50bn (£25bn) of Iraq's money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pressure the Iraqi government into signing an agreement seen by many Iraqis as prolonging the US occupation indefinitely, according to information leaked to The Independent.
US negotiators are using the existence of $20bn in outstanding court judgments against Iraq in the US, to pressure their Iraqi counterparts into accepting the terms of the military deal, . . .
Iraqi officials say that, last year, they wanted to diversify their holdings out of the dollar, as it depreciated, into other assets, such as the euro, more likely to hold their value. This was vetoed by the US Treasury because American officials feared it would show lack of confidence in the dollar.--Patrick Cockburn, "US issues threat to Iraq's $50bn foreign reserves in military deal," Independent, June 6, 2008]
"Drafting of U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement Began Nearly Five Years Ago," National Security Archive, June 13, 2008
[And let's remember one more base, though it's never called that: the massive imperial embassy, perhaps the biggest on the planet, . . . it is essentially a fortified citadel, a base inside the fortified American heart of the Iraq capital. Like the mega-bases, it emits an aura of American, not Iraqi, "sovereignty."--Tom Engelhardt, "Finally, the U.S. Mega-Bases in Iraq Are Under Debate," Tomdispatch.com, June 15, 2008]
[Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP - the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company - along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq's Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq's largest fields--Andrew E. Kramer, "Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back," New York Times, June 19, 2008]
[The report lays out a comprehensive plan for withdrawal of US forces by internationalizing what is currently the US role as the center of political power and humanitarian aid in Iraq, engaging in regional dialogue to stem outside interference in Iraq and convincing neighboring friends and foes alike to take a constructive role in reconstruction and development, and fomenting Iraqi reconciliation with international and regional support.--Ali Gharib, "A Blueprint for Iraq Withdrawal," Inter Press Service, June 26, 2008]
[Three key US-backed measures on oil, provincial elections and the future of US troops are mired in the Iraqi parliament, raising doubts as to whether they can come into effect before George Bush leaves office.--Jonathon Steele, "Iraqi MPs stall deals on Bush benchmarks," Guardian, June 28, 2008]
[US President George W. Bush long has vowed that the United States would leave Iraq if asked by Baghdad's leadership, but now that the request has been made, Bush is in no hurry to exit, analysts say.
Iraqi leaders have pressed for a withdrawal timetable as part of negotiations over the US military role beyond December 31--Laurent Lozano, " Time for US to leave Iraq? Not so fast, say analysts," Agence France Presse, July 13, 2008]
[As is usual with news it does not like, the Bush administration attempted to muddy the waters this weekend regarding the interview of PM Nuri al-Maliki with Der Spiegel in which he expressed approval of Barack Obama's plan to get US troops out of Iraq within 16 months of next January. Al-Maliki told Der Spiegel in response to a question about how long US troops would be in his country, . . .
Ali al-Dabbagh, who is usually described as al-Maliki's spokesman but actually seems to work for the CENTCOM or Pentagon Middle East command, was trotted out to make vague statements about Der Spiegel's having mistranslated or misinterpreted what al-Maliki said. . . .
It turns out that the translator involved works for al-Maliki, not for Der Spiegel, and so presumably knew what the prime minister's words meant in Arabic.--Juan Cole, "Der Spiegel Proves al-Maliki Story Correct," Informed Comment, July 21, 2008]