Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Voices Of Iraq

Tuesday , 10 /06 /2008

Baghdad, Jun. 10, (VOI) – David Satterfield, U.S. State Department’s Coordinator for Iraq, on Tuesday said that the bipartisan long-term agreement between Iraq and the U.S., currently being debated, will be executive, legal, and international between two sides.

He added that the treaty will embrace no items that require Senate approval.

“The bipartisan long-term agreement between Iraq and the U.S. will be executive, legal, and international between two sides, and during the negotiations with the Iraqi government’s negotiators, the U.S. government stresses that Iraq is a state that has sovereignty, and a partner in the negotiations that rely on the Iraqi national decision,” Satterfield said in a press conference in Baghdad.

“The agreement will embrace no items that require Senate approval, as it is not the first treaty that the U.S. holds with a state that has sovereignty,” he added.

“This agreement’s importance is not symbolic, but perceptible,” he explained.

“In December 2007, the Iraqi government explained to the U.S. that the authorization of Multi National Forces (MNF) presence in Iraq ends by the end of 2008, and that the Iraqi government demands having an agreement that arranges the relation with the present forces on its lands,” he noted.

“The U.S. responded to the demand, especially that there is a mutual tendency between us and the Iraqi government to establish the bases of mutual relations between the two countries,” he proceeded.

The agreement arranges U.S. forces presence in Iraq after 2008, as those forces currently operate in that country according to UN clearance that is renewed on year basis per the Iraqi government’s request.

The treaty will require the 275 members Iraqi Parliament’s enactment .

“There is no relation between the Iraqi funds in the U.S. banks and imposing pressures on Iraqi negotiators concerning the bipartisan agreement between Iraq and U.S.A,” he said.

“Iraqi funds are in U.S. banks to protect them, as per an order from the U.S. president,” he asserted.

“Yesterday, we had a negotiations session with the Iraqi side, and we concentrated on the security dimension, because it is the most important, and we achieved tangible progress, in addition to the other dimensions, especially in how both sides’ proposals are mutual and flexible; a matter that any negotiations require to accomplish the mutual interests, after putting the agreement’s strategic frame,” he explained.

“The U.S. Ambassador in Iraq, Ryan Crocker, leads the U.S. team to the negotiations, while the Iraqi Deputy Premier, Barham Saleh, leads the Iraqi team that consists of members of Iraqi government’s quintuple council, which includes Iraqi components, not one component,” he added.

Concerning negotiations’ transparency, Satterfield said, “Transparency of negotiations between Iraq and U.S. will appear when the agreement’s draft is submitted to the Iraqi Parliament.”

“Points under discussions cannot be exposed to the public opinion, unless there is an agreement upon them,” he added.
“The U.S. has more than 80 treaties with different countries, and it has experience in holding agreements for tens of years, like those with Germany, Japan, and Korea,” he explained.

Regarding a question addressed by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) of whether the agreement will include an item that allows reconsidering the agreement’s items, Satterfield said, “The agreement’s items can be reconsidered, especially that they are many and divergent to the fields of politics, security, economic, society, health, and education.”

“As the situation in Iraq is changeable, Iraq has the right, for example, to demand the cancellation of the agreement when its forces become capable of preserving security in Iraq,” he said.

“The agreement will allow Iraq to hold other agreements with other countries to achieve benefits,” he added.

In a second question about the deadline to sign this agreement, and whether Iraq is compelled to sign it by July 31, 2008, Satterfield said “The U.S. did not specify a date to sign the agreement, but the Iraqi and U.S. sides perceive that a date should be specified in this regard, and there is enough time until the end of July to sign it.”
MH/SR