Bush Pledges on Iraq Bases Pact Were a Ruse

[laststeamtrain]

Bush Pledges on Iraq Bases Pact Were a Ruse

Analysis by Gareth Porter*

WASHINGTON, Jun 12 (IPS) - Two key pledges made by the George W. Bush administration on military bases in its negotiations with the government of Iraq have now been revealed as carefully-worded ruses aimed at concealing U.S. negotiating aims from both U.S. citizens and Iraqis who would object to them if they were made clear.
Recent statements by Iraqis familiar with U.S. demands in negotiations on the U.S.-Iraq "strategic framework" agreement have highlighted the fact that administration promises that it would not seek "permanent bases" or the use of bases to attack Iran or any other neighbouring countries were deliberately misleading. The wording used by the Bush administration appears to have been chosen to obscure its intention to have both long-term access to Iraqi bases and complete freedom to use them to launch operations against Iran and Syria.

When Defence Secretary Robert Gates first informed the public about U.S. aims in negotiating Jan. 24, he renounced the aim of "permanent bases" in Iraq. Gates said the U.S.-Iraq agreement "would not involve -- we have no interest in permanent bases". The same day, State Department spokesman Tom Casey, asked if the agreement would include any reference to "permanent bases", replied, "We're not seeking permanent bases in Iraq. That's been a clear matter of policy for some time."

<snip>

The Bush administration's renunciation of "permanent bases" was a ploy to lull the key committees of the U.S. Congress on an issue which had aroused many Democratic critics of the war, who had repeatedly used that term in demanding a legal commitment on the issue.

The administration also used such ambiguous language to help the Iraqi government sell the agreement to Iraqi nationalists who object to long-term U.S. bases in their country. Thus as early as last December, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubayi declared in a television interview, "The Iraqi people reject the presence of permanent bases in Iraq" and reassured Iraqis that the government would not accept such bases "in any form whatever and will not approve, and I believe the Council of Representatives will not approve it."

As Iraqi sources have now revealed to Western reporters, however, the U.S. has proposed access to dozens of military bases without a time limit that would be technically Iraqi bases but which would actually be fully under U.S. control.

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http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42773

[Gman]

1. Then why the hell don't they just submit Iraq for statehood

and get it over with?

[laststeamtrain]

2. What would 'states rights' Republicans do?

I guess if they were consistent, they'd have to defend the right of Iraqi-fornia to self determination.

It'd be a state with some interesting laws. One to stay out of, for sure.

[laststeamtrain]

3. ...