Status of Forces Agreement will Decide Whether Iraq is Independent or "a Client State of the US"

Juan Gonzales: Following outcry by Iraqi lawmakers, the Bush administration is now offering limited concessions in its demands for a long-term "status of forces" agreement between Iraq and the United States.

The deal sought by the Bush administration, details of which were leaked to the press, were seen as a way of extending the U.S. occupation of Iraq indefinitely. The demands included maintaining 58 permanent military bases in Iraq, immunity for American troops and contractors, a free hand to conduct military operations without Iraqi approval, and control of Iraqi airspace. According to the London Independent, the U.S. is now lowering the number of bases it wants from 58 to "the low dozens" and says it is willing to compromise on legal immunity for foreign contractors.

The negotiations are being held before the UN mandate authorizing the U.S. occupation expires at the end of the year. The Independent of London (recently) reported the U.S. is leveraging tens of billions of dollars in seized Iraqi assets to push through its demands.

Amy Goodman: British journalist Patrick Cockburn broke this story. He is the Middle East correspondent for the London Independent and has reported from Iraq for many years now. He is the author of several books, including The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq. His latest is called Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival and the Struggle for Iraq. Patrick Cockburn joins us now from Washington, D.C.

Welcome to this country, Patrick.

Patrick Cockburn: Thank you very much.

Amy Goodman: Can you lay out for us exactly what the deal is and how you uncovered it?

Patrick Cockburn: Well, this is an extraordinary, important development in Iraq. It really will determine whether Iraq is an independent country or not. Or will it be a client state of the U.S.?

As you reported, the U.S. negotiators were demanding initially 58 bases. They're not calling them permanent bases, though that's exactly what they are. The bases might have, let's say, an Iraqi soldier outside and a single strand of barbed wire, in which case the Iraqis will supposedly be in charge of their defense, so it won't be an American base. But everybody knows that it is.

Then there's the question of immunity for American soldiers and Iraqi contractors, i.e. they won't come under Iraqi law. And the U.S. will also control airspace and have various other rights.

Now, although Ryan Crocker and President Bush are saying Iraq under this new agreement will once again be a sovereign nation, most of the rights we associate with a sovereign nation will be in the possession of the U.S.

Juan Gonzalez: And in terms of the reaction in Iraq among the various forces there, as news of this has begun to dribble out?

Patrick Cockburn: There's been an explosive reaction, because this is a deeply divisive demand by the U.S. There will be some Iraqis who will be willing to accept it, mainly maybe the Kurds. There will be others in the government who will do it. But there will be many other Iraqis, almost certainly a majority, who will see this agreement as showing that the Iraqi government is a puppet of the U.S. It will delegitimize it. It will lay the basis for a further deepening of the war in Iraq. So it's an extraordinary -- you know, Iraq is full of spurious invented turning points, but this really is a turning point for Iraq.

Juan Gonzalez: Now, your article suggests that Prime Minister al-Maliki himself is opposed to major parts of this proposal?

Patrick Cockburn: Yes, I mean, he's -- mostly can see the downside for himself, that this is going to go down real badly with a lot of Iraqis, including people in his own majority Shia community and including people in the coalition of parties which make up his own government. And one of the senior members of his own party was saying the Americans have asked for immunity for everybody and everything, apart from the dogs they bring to Iraq. So this is not very good news for him.