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Bush confident U.S.-Iraq security pact to
be passed
30.10.2008
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October
30, 2008
WASHINGTON, — President George Bush and Iraqi
Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani gave remarks
after their meeting at the White House Wednesday.
Bush said that the major issue the two talked about
was the status of forces agreement. He said Barzani
had been "a very strong advocate of the Iraqi
government passing the SOFA" and that he appreciated
that.
"I informed the President we received amendments
today from the government," Bush continued. "We're
analyzing those amendments. We obviously want to be
helpful and constructive without undermining basic
principles."
The president said he remained "very hopeful and
confident that the SOFA will get passed." He said
Barzani should "get a lot of credit for your
leadership on that issue."
Barzani said he expressed "the gratitude of the
Iraqi people in general and the people of Kurdistan,www.ekurd.net
in particular, for the
brave decision that you've made to rid us of this
dictatorship." He added, "We are very grateful for
all the brave souls, women and men in uniform, who
gave their dear lives in the process." |
President Bush meets with Iraq's Kurdistan region
President Massoud Barzani in the Oval Office of the
White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008
AP |
In regards to SOFA,
Barzani stated that he believed "it is in the
interest of the Iraqi government, it's in the
interest of this country, and we have been and we
will continue to support it and support its
ratification."
Barzani became a member of the Iraqi Governing
Council after the US invasion of Iraq and became its
president in April 2004. In June 2005, he was
elected president of the Iraqi Kurdistan region by
the Iraqi Kurdistan's Parliament.
During his tenure, Barzani has established several
institutions in the Iraqi Kurdistan region in an
effort to help strengthen its emerging democracy. He
has also helped the region strengthen alliances and
improve decision-making processes.
President Bush said he is confident he can work out
a new security pact with the Iraqis before year's
end. But time is running out and the two sides may
be forced to ask for an extension of the current
U.N. agreement allowing the U.S. military to operate
in Iraq.
Doing so would shift crucial decisions about U.S.
military power in Iraq to the next U.S. president.
Political opposition to the proposed deal in Iraq
has increased discussion in Washington and Baghdad
about a U.N. extension. The Iraqi Cabinet this week
authorized Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to
reopen talks on the Status of Forces Agreement,www.ekurd.net
and he has sent proposed
changes to Washington.
The current U.N. mandate gives legal authority for
U.S. forces to operate only through Dec. 31. Iraq
considered the mandate an affront to its sovereignty
and sought a replacement agreement with the U.S.
that functions more like a treaty between equals.
Negotiations began in May; the Bush administration
had hoped to complete them by the end of July.
Some in the administration now worry it may be too
late to get the Iraqi Parliament to approve the deal
before the mandate expires. If a deal is not reached
and the mandate not extended, American troops would
be confined to their barracks and all operations
would have to be suspended.
Security "gains that have been made will start to
unravel potentially because we don't have a legal
mandate to operate," Pentagon spokesman Geoff
Morrell said Wednesday.
U.S. officials say they are working for a
comprehensive deal and that there is no active
effort to draft a temporary extension to the U.N.
mandates. "I don't think anyone has put pen to paper
on anything," State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack.
Some administration officials, though, argue it is
time to begin laying the groundwork to go back to
the U.N. Security Council. Getting an extension to
the mandate would require the approval of Russia and
China, which hold veto power on the council.
U.S. officials have said the existing draft text is
its final offer. But with time running out on both
the mandate and Bush's term,www.ekurd.net
they have agreed to at
least consider the Iraqi proposals. At the same
time, they insist changes will not be taken lightly.
"The bar to any revisions is very high," McCormack
said.
But he insisted that no one in the administration
was yet working on the alternative: extending the
U.N. mandate. "There is a still a lot of life left
in the process and it's really the focus of our
efforts," he said.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, RTTNews
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