Four articles that approach the Iraq SOFA from different angles.

Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Why the U.S. blinked on its troop agreement with Iraq

By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Although the Pentagon officially has welcomed the new accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, senior military officials are privately criticizing President Bush for giving Iraq more control over U.S. military operations for the next three years than the U.S. had ever contemplated.

Officials said U.S. negotiators had failed to understand how the two countries' political timetables would force the U.S. to make major concessions that relinquish much of the control over U.S. forces in Iraq. They said President Bush gave in to Iraqi demands to avoid leaving the decisions to his successor, Barack Obama.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/56182.html

US-Iraq security pact may be in violation, Congress is told
By Jenny Paul
Globe Correspondent / November 20, 2008

WASHINGTON - Passage of the US-Iraq security pact under the terms both countries' leaders have advocated could violate the constitutions of both countries, specialists told a congressional subcommittee yesterday.

They instead pressed for an extension of the United Nations mandate authorizing US troop involvement in Iraq, which expires Dec. 31.

American constitutional law scholar Oona Hathaway said she believes the Constitution requires Congress to also approve the agreement. The Bush administration has labeled the pact a "status of forces agreement," which can be implemented without congressional approval.

But Hathaway said the US-Iraqi pact is more comprehensive than previous agreements because it allows US troops to engage in military operations and specifies timetables for military withdrawal.

"These are unprecedented in a standard status of forces agreement, have never been part of a standard status of forces agreement, and extend in my view far beyond what the president can do without obtaining congressional approval," said Hathaway, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Law.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa...gress_is_told/

US contractors lose immunity in Iraq security deal
Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writer – Thu Nov 20, 6:22 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Thousands of contractors, both private Americans and non-Iraqi foreigners working in key roles for the United States in Iraq, will lose immunity and be subject to Iraqi law under new security arrangements, Bush administration officials say.

Pentagon and State Department officials notified companies that provide contract employees, like Blackwater Worldwide, Dyncorp International, Triple Canopy and KBR, of the changes on Thursday as the Iraqi parliament continues contentious debate on a security deal that will govern the presence of American forces in Iraq after January.

That so-called Status of Forces, or SOFA, agreement, which gives the Iraqi government only limited jurisdiction over U.S. troops and Defense Department civilians, excludes Defense Department contractors, two officials said.

The officials spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity after giving the same information to representatives of 172 invited contracting companies in two separate meetings earlier Thursday in Washington.

"Contractors and grantees can no longer expect that they will enjoy the wide range of immunity from Iraqi law that has been in effect since 2003," a State Department official said, reading from the text of a statement presented to the contractors.

Iraq will have "the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over" such workers, who are employed in various support roles for the U.S. military, including food service, transportation and sanitation, they said.

The agreement does not mention State Department contractors, who mainly provide security for U.S. diplomats in Iraq, but their immunity is expected to be revoked by the Iraqi government after the agreement takes effect pending Iraqi parliamentary approval, the officials said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081120/...ty_contractors

Iraq parliament engulfed in protests over US pact
In second stormy day in parliament, Iraqi lawmakers go through Iraqi-US security pact
QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
AP News
Nov 20, 2008 06:34 EST

As opposition lawmakers shouted and pounded their desks in protest, Iraq's parliament on Thursday resumed deliberating a proposed security agreement with the United States that would allow American forces to stay there three more years.

The parliament completed a second reading of the proposal, the last step prior to the opening of debate on the security pact ahead of the Nov. 24 vote.

Lawmakers loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr sought to disrupt Thursday's reading as they did the previous day, when they scuffled with security guards after one of them aggressively approached the bench while a lawmaker from the ruling Shiite coalition was reading the text aloud.

On Thursday, the Sadrists attempted to drown out the voice of the lawmaker reading it aloud. Shouting matches later ensued, with Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani barely able to control the chaos in the 275-seat chamber.

But unlike Wednesday, there were no scuffles among lawmakers and orderly proceedings continued.
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=460485

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All of this may dissolve into a farce (more of a farce ?); but, something has to be in place by 31 Dec.