THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 260, October 31, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON THE
U.S. TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ
By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
U.S. MILITARY POLICY IN IRAQ: WILL U.S. TROOPS REMAIN IN IRAQ AFTER THE END OF 2011? THE IRAQIS'
DESIRE FOR FURTHER AMERICAN TRAINING OF IRAQI SECURITY FORCES -- THE IRAQI MILITARY SEEN AS INCAPABLE OF
DEFENDING THE COUNTRY FROM FOREIGN THREATS -- LACK OF IRAQI KNOW-HOW ON THE USE OF ADVANCE D
WEAPONRY, SUCH AS FIGHTER JETS, WHICH THE MILITARY HAS BEEN PURCHASING -- NEGOTIATIONS BEING CARRIED ON
BETWEEN THE U.S. & IRAQI GOVERNMENTS ON KEEPING AMERICAN MILITARY TRAINERS IN IRAQ AFTER THE DECEMBER 31,
2011, DEADLINE FOR TROOP WITHDRAWAL
FULL STORY:
Following President Obama's promise that all American troops will be home from Iraq by Christmas time, there have been
numerous misconceptions circulated in media reports about what is precisely going on regarding the U.S. troop withdrawal.
To begin with, there is a widespread notion that, in the words of one report in the Guardian, Iraq's Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki "[h]ad wanted to keep some U.S. troops in Iraq. … But he had to bow to pressure from pro-Iranian
politicians and others in his coalition government who wanted all U.S. troops out."
These remarks are highly misleading, to put it mildly.
Here is what actually transpired: the U.S. military had for quite some time been intent on keeping between ten to twenty
thousand troops in the country beyond the withdrawal deadline stipulated in the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)
originally drawn up between the Bush administration and the Iraqi government.
However, with the exception of the Kurdish parties, all Iraqi political factions were opposed to this idea from the start,
including al-Maliki and his State of Law bloc.
Nonetheless, in August, 2011, Iraq's various parties — excluding the followers of the pro-Iran Shi'ite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr — held a meeting and agreed in principle on the idea of allowing a few thousand American soldiers to stay
beyond the SOFA deadline and provide additional training for the Iraqi security forces.
The two reasons behind this desire for further American training are that the Iraqi military is seen as incapable of
defending the country from foreign threats and that there is a lack of Iraqi know-how on the use of advanced weaponry,
such as fighter jets, which the military has recently been purchasing. In fact, the Iraqi military estimates that further
training will be needed until at least 2020.
The Iraqi politicians also agreed, however, on the condition that American troops should not be granted immunity from
prosecution in Iraqi courts, primarily because of memories of U.S. abuses like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
This principle was reaffirmed in another meeting in October, 2011, (again, excluding the Sadrists). In any case, the
primary purpose of the October meeting was not to discuss the impending U.S. withdrawal, but to try (unsuccessfully,
as usual) to resolve the problems in forming the Iraqi government, a process that's been going on since the March, 2010,
elections.
The debate over immunity has proven to be the main obstacle in negotiations between Washington and Baghdad
regarding keeping troops beyond 2011. It was an Iraqi consensus nationalist position and not any pro-Iranian
opposition to the U.S. presence that proved the stumbling block.
Even given all these issues, however, it is not necessarily true that no U.S. troops will remain on Iraqi soil after December
31. Iraq and the United States still agree on American soldiers remaining to train Iraqi security forces. General Babakir
Zebari, the Iraqi Army's Chief of Staff; al-Maliki; and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have all issued statements to this
effect.
Thus, despite the initial failure of talks, there is still a significant chance of a small contingent force of a few hundred
troops — rather than a few thousand — staying as "trainers."
Discussion is still taking place as the Iraqi government and the Obama administration try to find a compromise for a
loophole on the immunity issues. U.S. soldiers would not have immunity status, but trainers would get it by technically
working for the U.S. State Department or NATO, which already has a 200-member training mission that will stay at least
until 2013.
And if this solution fails, Iraq will probably hire ex-U.S. soldiers as civilian contractors to provide further training.
In light of all the misreporting in the media on these happenings, the most important point is that Iraq, as a sovereign
state, is setting the terms of its relationship with the United States, and is not acting at the behest of a foreign power,
namely Iran.
Iran's government has had no role in influencing the Iraqi political factions' stances on the troop extension. In short,
Baghdad is simply doing whatever it wants. A key underlying principle is simply this: Iraq doesn't want to be either too
dependent on the United States or on Iran.
The Iraqi government will use the United States to ensure its sovereignty vis-à-vis Iran, while insisting on showing that
it isn't a U.S. protectorate. This strategy is likely to work and is not only in Iraq's interest, but also in the U.S. interest.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Square, Oxford, United
Kingdom, and has done work as an intern for the Middle East Forum.
The foregoing article by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi was originally published in Pajamas Media, October 27, 2011,
and can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks
to define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(URL: http://www.meforum.org/3084/us-troop- withdrawal-iraq)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
October 31, 2011
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