Iraqi lawmakers say the United States is demanding 58 bases as part of a proposed "status of forces" agreement that will allow U.S. troops to remain in the country indefinitely.
Leading members of the two ruling Shiite parties said in a series of interviews the Iraqi government rejected this proposal along with another U.S. demand that would have effectively handed over to the United States the power to determine if a hostile act from another country is aggression against Iraq. Lawmakers said they fear this power would drag Iraq into a war between the United States and Iran.
"The points that were put forth by the Americans were more abominable than the occupation," said Jalal al Din al Saghir, a leading lawmaker from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. "We were occupied by order of the Security Council," he said, referring to the 2004 Resolution mandating a U.S. military occupation in Iraq at the head of an international coalition. "But now we are being asked to sign for our own occupation. That is why we have absolutely refused all that we have seen so far"…
So what was Ryan Crocker saying last week?
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq says the Bush administration is not trying to set up permanent military bases in Iraq. Ambassador Ryan Crocker rejects the notion that the legal and military agreements he wants this year are blueprints for an everlasting American military presence inside Iraq.
This is hardly a rational reason for the descrepancy:
… The US had previously denied it wanted permanent bases in Iraq, but American negotiators argue that so long as there is an Iraqi perimeter fence, even if it is manned by only one Iraqi soldier, around a US installation, then Iraq and not the US is in charge …
So Crocker was lying – pretty clearly. This attempt to coerce the Iraqis actually answers the question about our motives for invading Iraq. We went there because they were the "weak spot" in the region in order to establish a Base of operations in the Middle East. The Iraqis say, "No thanks." Good for them.
There’s a popular notion that Arabs excel in marketplace bargaining. Looks to me like Ryan Crocker and his Washington counterparts are learning about their skills first-hand.
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