Iraq SOFA Draft ?
The proposed US-Iraq SOFA has been the topic of numerous news articles over the past 10 days. Many of those articles reference excerpts from a purported final draft of the agreement (in the form of a presidential executive agreement under US Con Law). That you might know the source of the purported excerpts, it is referenced below.
Caution: The text may or may not reflect the official text - Please regard it as no more than a hypothetical example of a possible SOFA until an official English text is released.
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Full Text and Some Caveats
The full text of a purported 13 Aug 2008 final draft of the US-Iraq SOFA is here.
http://www.afsc.org/Iraq/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/69064
The translation uses language (in various places) which will not be the language used in the official English text (if and when it is released) - it's not what a lawyer versed in SOFA law would use. Beyond that procedural caveat, there are a number of substantive caveats.
Caveats:
1. There is NO official evidence that this English translated text is from the official Arabic version, which has not been released.
2. The official English version also has not been released.
3. While it seems unlikely that the final draft will be substantially modified by the US (see next), the draft might be rejected by the Iraqi government.
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=428135Washington warns Iraq to accept security deal
Bush administration urging Iraqis to drop objections to security deal, warns of consequences
ROBERT BURNS
AP News
Oct 22, 2008 14:32 EST
The Bush administration on Wednesday warned of "real consequences" for Iraq if it rejects a newly negotiated security pact.....
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Provenance of Translation
The translated text purports to be a translation into English from Arabic by Raed Jarrar. His brief explanation of its "chain of custody" is as follows:
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/Monday, October 20, 2008
U.S. Iraqi Agreemnt: Final Draft leaked
The final draft of the U.S. Iraqi agreement was sent to my ["what" ?] from Baghdad a couple of days ago. I just finished translating it into english.....
Mr. Jarrar's Wiki bio (currently the Iraq consultant for the American Friends Service Committee) is here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raed_Jarrar
The text appears at the website of the American Friends Service Committee, which explains it as follows:
http://www.afsc.org/Iraq/Wage Peace Campaign
Latest Status of Forces Agreement --
AFSC English Translation
Read the first public English translation of the latest draft agreement between the U.S and Iraqi administrations, an agreement designed to permit U.S. troops to remain in Iraq once the United Nations mandate ends this year and may begin the process of establishing permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.
A major Arabic-language newspaper, Al-Sabah Al-Jadeed, published the Arabic version on Monday, October 20. ....
.... [intervening paragraphs are political commentary] ....
In September, AFSC posted the translation of the draft agreement, in addition to the Arabic-language original.
Presumably, the reference to a September translation is to an earlier draft - the url link did not work for me.
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Comments
No substantive comments at present - although the purported draft has some interesting provisions. It is an odd SOFA - it looks more like a 3-year lease of a business condominium.
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