Maliki, Kerry Express Desire For Healthy, "New" U.S.-Iraq Relationship

By Mariko Lamb - Talk Radio News Service

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Thursday to discuss bilateral efforts to pursue a healthy new relationship between the two nations.

Chairman Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) expressed hope for future relations with Iraq. “All of us are very very hopeful that the path that we are on today marks a new relationship with Iraq, one where we are the United States and Iraq, two countries operating as we do with countries all around the world.”

Maliki expressed gratitude for efforts and sacrifices made by the U.S. in the past, and he ensured the committee that U.S. troops are no longer needed in Iraq. “Iraqi troops were able to maintain security and law and order, and this is a result of joint efforts,” he said.

Maliki also expressed Iraq’s strong desire for the removal of UN sanctions imposed on Iraq. “Iraq now does not represent any threat to peace and security,” he explained. “We are full of confidence that the United States as well as all countries in the international community...will help us to get out of Chapter 7 [sanctions].”

Kerry and Maliki assured together that U.S. and Iraq will work together in the spirit of mutual interests to implement both the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement and the Strategic Framework Agreement between the two nations.

Iraqi Refugees need U.S. help, advocates say

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

America must invest more time, money, and human resources to help those displaced by the ongoing Iraq War, according to human rights advocates from the Washington, D.C.-based Refugees International.

The presence of 2.6 million displaced Iraqis persons is overwhelming to neighboring Middle East countries and is “undermining” to the social fabric of Iraq, said Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International, at a speech made today at the National Press Club.

President Barack Obama talked about displacement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during his surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday.

Bacon is happy at what is being seen as a distinct change from the “little attention” that the Bush Administration paid to Iraqi displacement.

It is estimated that since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, 2.6 million Iraqi’s have lost their homes and have fled other parts of the country. An additional 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, including Syria, Jordan and Egypt.

Bacon said that greater American and international support in receiving refugees and providing financial-aid can help stop the crisis.

Displacement of that many people “affects the whole region”, said Bacon, which results in educated citizens and specialized workers fleeing the country.

There are only 18,000 practicing doctors in Iraq, down from 32,000 doctors in 2002. There are more Iraqi doctors in Jordan than in Iraq’s capitol city of Baghdad, Bacon said.

Last year Democratic Senators Robert Casey (PA) and Benjamin Cardin (MD) introduced a bill to increase aid to Iraqi refugees and allow more of them to enter the United States. Since the FY2010 Budget has been approved by Congress, any appropriated funds to help Iraqi citizens would have to come through additional legislation, Bacon said.

A spokesman for Senator Cardin said it has not been decided yet if similar legislation would be introduced in this Congress.

Refugee International’s Field Report on the Iraqi refugee situation said that the Iraqi government is trying to keep more of its citizens from fleeing their homeland. It is feared by the Iraqi government that the existence of so many refugees tarnishes the image of overall security within the country.

The report also said Iraq violated international refugee laws in 2007 by asking Syria not to accept any more Iraqi refugees.

Many refugees have fears of returning home, the report says, because many of those that returned already have been killed.

Kristele Younes, an advocate with Refugees International, says that security is a major issue in Iraqi neighborhoods, with each little borough acting as its own walled off “fiefdom”.

Younes said that the United Nations is trying to place a tourniquet on the flow of persons out of the country by the end of the year, but significant challenges remain in Iraq, including budgetary shortcomings due to low oil prices, corruption within the government and sectarianism.

The Refugees International’s report on Iraq can be found here.

U.S. needs to switch into a supportive role in Iraq

The National Security Network held a conference call to discuss American troop presence in Iraq and Nouri al-Maliki’s new opinion on the situation. Colin Kahl, a professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, explained that back in November, 2007, the Bush Administration and Maliki signed a declaration of principles which outlined a long term partnership of the U.S. with Iraq. Around the same time, the governments also embarked on bilateral negotiations, hopefully to be completed by July 31st, in an effort to codify a relationship and replace the current UN mandate with a bilateral arrangement.

Kahl explained that these negotiations have been very contentious due to rising animosity in different national groups. Because of this, Kahl said that there will most likely not be a long term Status of Forces Agreement or a renewal of the UN mandate, but rather some memorandum that will allow U.S. forces to operate in Iraq for the next year or two with more restrictions. Kahl also explained that Iraqis want a time horizon or time table for the departure of U.S. forces out of a predominantly combative role into a more supportive role.

Marc Lynch, a professor of International Affairs at the Elliot School of International Affairs, said that there is a fair degree of confidence that a new bargaining position has emerged in Iraq. He said that most Americans would have assumed the Iraqi position to be more favorable towards long term, unconditional U.S. support, rather than the actual, almost consensual, visceral opposition to anything that looks like long term American occupation.

Kahl said that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is the real outlier when it comes to his position on what needs to be done in Iraq, not the Bush Administration. He explained that McCain would like an almost “Korea style” permanent and enduring presence in Iraq, something that most Americans are not looking for. Kahl said that he believes most Americans are actually more comfortable with Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) policy for withdrawal. Kahl explained that Obama is looking for the U.S. to have continue to have some role in Iraq, a supportive role, so that if something does go wrong during a withdrawal, the U.S. will “have their back.” Kahl himself agreed with Obama’s plan and said that if a close look is taken into Iraqi military operations, success is not possible without enablers from the U.S. military. He said that it is important for the U.S. relationship with Iraq to be conditions based on improving political actions by the Iraqi government.