Posted by
Always To The Right on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 2:16:15 PM
The Washington Post
continues a rather dishonest meme regarding the status of forces
agreement (SOFA) with Iraq in today’s edition. They claim that an
agreement on withdrawal contradicts “years of promises” to refuse to
leave Iraq based on timelines alone. The Post completely ignores the
context of those promises and the changed conditions in Iraq
Bush repeatedly vowed not to withdraw from Iraq until the violence dwindled to levels that Iraq can handle on its own.
We’ve already all but arrived at that point. The Iraqi Army and its
national police have been handling primary security duties for months,
and took back control of militia-held areas on their own initiative
earlier this year. In three years — the length of the SOFA — the
Iraqis will be able to seal their own borders and defend themselves
from assault from both within and without Iraq.
Signing the SOFA doesn’t reverse anything. We’ve won the war, and we’ve finally won the peace. Now we’re negotiating future relations with a sovereign democratic ally.
The Post also indulges in another misleading point along these same lines:
In at least one respect, the timeline may complicate
what Obama had proposed on the campaign trail: leaving a residual force
in Iraq to protect U.S. officials and conduct counter-terrorism
operations after the withdrawal of all combat troops. The agreement
makes clear that the U.S. government would need approval from the
Iraqis if a residual force is to remain beyond Dec. 31, 2011.
Perhaps Michael Abramowitz doesn’t realize this, but the US needs
official approval for the forces to remain in Iraq starting on January
1, and needed it implicitly since Iraq held its first constitutional
elections. We’re there under the UN mandate that the Iraqi government
supported through several years. Had the Iraqis demanded that we leave
during this period, we would have left. Even if we were inclined to
ignore the sovereign government in Baghdad, the UN would almost
certainly have withdrawn its mandate. This entire paragraph is
completely pointless.
If Obama wants to extend a military presence in Iraq, he can
negotiate that with the Iraqis, the same as Bush would have had to do,
or John McCain had he won the election. At this moment, the Iraqis
want us out entirely, but that may change as 2012 grows nearer. They
may want us to help provide air cover as they rebuild their air force,
or provide other military assistance if Iran gets too menacing. In any
case, that was always subject to more negotiation, and the SOFA doesn’t impede any future options at all.
The Post has supported the war, but they still seem to have
difficulty understanding it. There is a vast difference between
retreating from one’s enemies and returning after the war has been
won. That was George Bush’s point all along, and this article shows
that it still hasn’t been learned.