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Kurdistan PM predicts US troops will
remain in Iraq until 2020
26.10.2008
By Deborah Haynes, Erbil, Kurdistan region
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October
26, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region "Iraq", —
Baghdad is unlikely to sign an agreement with
Washington on the future of US forces in Iraq by a
critical year-end deadline, according to the Prime
Minister of the country’s largely autonomous Kurdish
north.
Nechirvan Barzani also told The Times that a
conditions-based target contained in a draft version
of the status of forces agreement for all US
soldiers to exit the country within three years was
“unrealistic” given the limited capabilities of the
fledgling Iraqi Army. Instead,www.ekurd.net
the Prime Minister, who
is No 2 in the Kurdish region after Massoud Barzani,
the President of Kurdistan region, predicted a US
military presence of some form until 2020.
Iraq’s Cabinet this week decided to ask the United
States for changes to the text to the frustration of
the Bush administration. US officials have warned of
dire consequences to security in the country if an
accord is not reached in time. |
Nechirvan Barzani, Prime
Minister of
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) |
Mr Barzani said he
thought that the Iraqi announcement was mere
posturing by politicians wanting to demonstrate
their independence from US influence.
“These people probably think that with slogans they
can run a country and I believe this is wrong,” the
Prime Minister said. “They want to be given the
credit as heroes or considered as heroes.”
He also blamed “external interference”, without
naming specific countries. Neighbouring Iran, which
is close to the Shia Arab parties that hold the
majority in Iraq’s Government, has been a vociferous
opponent of the pact.
Asked whether he thought that the accord would be
signed by the end of 2008, when a United Nations
Security Council mandate authorising the presence of
foreign troops in Iraq is due to expire,www.ekurd.net
Mr Barzani said: “I
don’t think so. Now they try to make it more
complicated so it is not signed.”
Abandoning the year-end deadline would force Iraq to
return to the United Nations to ask for an emergency
extension of the UN mandate, something that has been
rolled over every year since the 2003 invasion and
serves as a constant reminder that Iraq has not
fully regained its sovereignty.
There are no guarantees, however, that the UN
Security Council, which includes countries such as
Russia that opposed the war, will approve the
extension without requesting some new conditions.
“You have to think about what are the other options
available,” said the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG), which controls Iraq’s
three northern-most provinces. “What are the
alternatives?”
Mr Barzani said that the United States had made more
concessions with the Iraq agreement than with many
of the other countries with which it has such a
military accord, including Japan, Germany and South
Korea.
“We at the KRG believe that this is very much in the
interests of Iraq. Probably it does not meet all the
aspirations and expectations of Iraq, but this is
very honourable to Iraq,” he said.
In another twist, there has been speculation that
some Iraqi leaders would prefer to wait to sign an
accord with the next US administration, rather than
seal a deal with the incumbent George Bush, who is
hugely unpopular in Iraq.
The Kurdish Prime Minister, however, warned that
this was also unwise.
“I don’t believe we Iraqis will be able to have a
better deal with the new administration,” he said,www.ekurd.net
speaking from his office
in a palatial mansion inside a compound on the
outskirts of Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish
north.
Most crucially, a timely agreement with the United
States was required to ensure that security gains in
Iraq are maintained into next year, said Mr Barzani.
“Is Iraq really in a position that it can run its
own affairs without the support [of the US]?” he
said. “Militarily this is absolutely not true.”
It would take until 2020 before Iraqi forces are up
to speed, he predicted. “They said all the coalition
will leave Iraq by the end of 2011, I believe that
this is a mistake. It is unrealistic. Iraq needs
more support.”
The Prime Minister said that responsibility should
be given to the Iraqi police and army, but US-led
forces should retain some sort of presence for
support.
There is no US military presence in the Kurdish
north of Iraq, which has enjoyed relative autonomy
from Baghdad for almost two decades. It also escaped
the sectarian conflict that consumed the rest of the
country after the invasion.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
timesonline co.uk
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