The U.S.-Iraqi Status of Forces Agreement

Perhaps the most important foreign policy event of 2008 happened over the weekend with surprisingly very little fanfare.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet approved, by a 21-7 vote, a status of forces agreement with the U.S, effectively giving a hard deadline as to when U.S. troops will finally leave Iraq.

While the agreement still needs to pass the Iraqi Parliament with a simple 51% majority, it appears that this is a done deal.

Now, I have been extremely leery of establishing a timetable for our withdrawal from Iraq, however, I think this deal works our well for us, Iraq and the Middle East in general.

Not all of the details have been released, but here are the specifics we know:

• U.S. forces will withdraw from Iraq's populated areas by June 2009.
• All U.S. forces will be gone by 2011.
• US soldiers will not be immune to Iraqi law if they commit crimes on Iraqi territory.
• Agrees to a 10-year mandate for the U.S. to guarantee the security of Iraq, in exchange for the right to use Iraqi land, waters and skies to base and train troops and store military equipment.
• Pledges that the U.S. will protect Iraq from any war, coup or revolution.
• Commissions the building of 50 U.S. military bases in Iraq.
• Establishes long-term, American supervision of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and Defense.
• Gives the U.S. the right to arrest or persecute any Iraqi working against its interests, within Iraq.
• Grants the U.S. control of Iraqi airspace.
• Does not rule out delaying the troop pullout if conditions on the ground warrant their presence beyond 2011.

As you can see, while we won’t be “waging a war” in Iraq we will still hold a significant presence there.

I know many people in this country want us to be completely finished in Iraq, but I think this presence is extremely necessary. There are many in the Middle East (the Iranian government, the Syrian Government, Al-Qaeda and Hamas, just to name a few) that have a vested interest in seeing the democratic advances made by Iraq fail. Our extended presence gives the Iraqis a security blanket while they continue to advance their already dramatic democratic strides.

This is so critical, because if we want democracy to have a real chance of spreading throughout the Middle East, Iraq must succeed. If Iraq does succeed and leads to other democratically run governments in the region, perhaps then we can really begin to talk about putting an end to global terrorism.

As important as supporting Iraq, the agreement also gives us an even stronger foothold in the Middle East, allowing us to:

• Closely monitor the nuclear activities conducted by Iran.
• Prevent a rogue group like Hamas or Al-Qaeda from filling a power vacuum should the Maliki government collapse.
• Put Syria on notice that if they continue their terrorist activity, we’ll be right there to take them out.
• Show the Iranian people that if they want to overthrow their oppressive government (which there is a movement to do) that we’ll be there to support them.
• Illustrate to the rest of the world that we are serious about ending global terrorism and will stop at nothing to ensure our success.
• Help negate the Chinese and Russian influence in the region.
• Ensure a legitimate and safe round of elections next year.

Predictably, Iran is irate over this agreement (another example of why this agreement is so important and beneficial). Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani (the official head of the Iranian state) called on the Maliki government to think twice before committing Iraq to an agreement that Iraqis considered "a pact of humiliation".

Maliki politely declined, continuing to prove that he is no “pawn of Iran” as his critics claimed. As if this was even in question after he ordered routs -- by the Iraq army -- of Shiite militias in Basra and Sadr City last spring.

Despite his critics inside and out of Iraq, Maliki is proving to be an effective leader that is not merely looking out for the interests of Sunnis, but rather Iraq as a whole. With the help of the U.S., he has managed to control the sectarian violence that was tearing the country apart for four years. Additionally, he brought together an incredibly divisive group of political leaders and convinced them to put their differences aside and work toward the greater good of Iraq.

With leaders like Maliki, diplomacy like the status of forces agreement and strong support from the U.S. government and military forces, Iraq appears to be headed for success…something that was literally unthinkable a mere 20 months ago.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John