Alle amerikanske tropper skal være ude af Irak inden udgangen af 2011. Og på hvilke vilkår?
The agreement stipulates that “all US forces shall withdraw from all Iraqi territory no later than December 31 2011”. More remarkably, all combat troops will leave Iraqi towns and villages and go back to base by the end of June next year. Pause for a moment and take that in. Six years and three months after the invasion, Iraqi streets will be a US-free zone again.
Iraq will have a veto over all US military operations. A clause added at the last minute after pressure from Iran says that Iraqi land, sea and air may not be used as a launch pad or transit point for attacks on other countries. The Iraqi government eagerly took up the point after US helicopters flew into Syria and attacked a compound there last month, claiming it was a base from which foreign fighters entered Iraq. Iraq joined Syria in protesting against the raid.
Under the withdrawal agreement, no Iraqi can be arrested by US forces except with permission from Iraqi authorities, and every Iraqi who is arrested in these circumstances must be handed to Iraqi forces within 24 hours. The tens of thousands of detainees in US custody must either be released or turned over to the Iraqis immediately. US troops may not enter or search any Iraqi house without an Iraqi judge’s warrant, except if they are conducting a joint combat operation with the Iraqi military.
US contractors – the armed mercenaries in their SUVs whom Iraqis hate even more than the American military – will lose their immunity and be subject to Iraqi law, a development that is already prompting many security firms to start pulling out. US troops who rape Iraqi women or commit any other crime while off duty and off base will have to stand trial in Iraqi courts.
USA har givet efter på alle de punkter, de hidtil har stået allerstejlest og mest principielt på. Amerikanske soldater for irakiske domstole! Ja, det manglede vel bare, vil mange sige, men det er altså ikke sådan, de Forenede Staters regering har set på det indtil nu.
Link: This is no sop. It is a vote to end the occupation of Iraq