                                                 JULY SURPRISE?
President Bush ever faithful to his character is reported to be hatching a plan that will be no less historic and explosive than has been his leadership in launching the unilateral war on Iraq. Carefully observe the following:
Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US controlBush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors
By Patrick Cockburn
Thursday, 5 June 2008
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
George Bush with General David Petraeus at Al-Asad Air Base in Anbar Province, Iraq, last year.
A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.
The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.
But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US. President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated. But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US troops if he is elected president in November.
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 - a victory that he says Mr Obama would throw away by a premature military withdrawal.
America currently has 151,000 troops in Iraq and, even after projected withdrawals next month, troop levels will stand at more than 142,000 - 10 000 more than when the military "surge" began in January 2007. Under the terms of the new treaty, the Americans would retain the long-term use of more than 50 bases in Iraq. American negotiators are also demanding immunity from Iraqi law for US troops and contractors, and a free hand to carry out arrests and conduct military activities in Iraq without consulting the Baghdad government.
The precise nature of the American demands has been kept secret until now. The leaks are certain to generate an angry backlash in Iraq. "It is a terrible breach of our sovereignty," said one Iraqi politician, adding that if the security deal was signed it would delegitimise the government in Baghdad which will be seen as an American pawn.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It will be interesting to see how long it will take the administration and particularly John McCain to comment on this provocative story.
recommend
Facebook
Twitter
bookmark 
print
Comments: 8
And Chris say, ho hum, business as usual for the US.
And micky d says we're winning the war. Then why do we need 50 new bases?
Somebody is smokin' somethin'.
This just in, micky: We AREN'T WINNING IN IRAQ. Instead, we are funding the Sunni warlords...yes, they are on our payroll, some of them making over a hundred K a year in payola. What do we get in return? They go after Al Qaeda a little, and meanwhile they clean all the Shi'a out of Sunni neighborhoods, while the Shi'a's clean the Sunni's out of theirs. It's called ETHNIC CLEANSING, micky, and furthermore it returns the country to tribal rule, delegitimizing the central puppet government we have set up.
This policy, and not the surge, is what has reduced violence levels, but long term, it makes restoration of any kind of civil peace and central government almost impossible.
Which I suppose is why Bush wants 50 new bases and a license to stay there forever.