The Website Iraq Oil Report says that a "trusted source" has given them an unofficially translated copy of the full text of the Iraqi Status of Forces Agreement. An unofficial translation has also been published in an Iraqi newspaper.
Having looked at the Oil Report copy, it appears surprisingly promising . . . but a lot may depend on the exact, official translation of certain words, and we may never see an official translation. The Bush Administration is as of now refusing to circulate the document; a move that Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) calls "incredible."
(The Iraq Oil Report Website is run by Ben Lando, "the editor of United Press International’s Energy Resources desk.")
Lawmaker accuses Bush of secrecy over Iraq deal
Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:38pm EST
By Ross Colvin
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is refusing to make public the security pact it has signed with Iraq, even though it has already been published in full in an Iraqi newspaper, a congressional hearing was told on Wednesday.
-- snip --
The administration has said it will not seek congressional approval for the deal. It has been in a hurry to finalize the pact, which Iraqi lawmakers still must approve, before the U.N. mandate under which U.S. troops operate expires on December 31.
-- snip --
"Even now the National Security Council has requested that we do not show this document to our witnesses or release it to the public. Now that's incredible -- meantime the Iraqi government has posted this document on its media website," Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat, said.
The Administration may be withholding the document because it is so embarrassing. I, for one, have been assuming that the 2011 withdrawal date referred only, in some kind of weasel-word way, to "combat forces." But if the available translation is correct, this is not true. The language in the SOFA is unequivocal.
Article II, 2, "Definitions" defines "United States Forces":
- "United States Forces" means the entity comprising the members of the United States Armed Forces, their associated civilian component, and all property, equipment, and materiel of the United States Armed Forces present in the territory of Iraq.
Article 24 is titled "Withdraw of the United States Forces from Iraq." Subpart 1 reads:
- All the United States Forces shall withdraw from all Iraqi territory no later than December 31, 2011.
That's it. And nothing below it qualifies that.
This, if correct, and if the Iraqi parliament votes passage, would seem to be a real victory for the people of Iraq and America. However, a lot may depend upon the exact, official translation of the definitions and of Article 24. And we apparently are not going to be allowed to see that.