niftygifter
13-03-2008, 02:08 PM
Quote:
Wednesday 12 March 2008
As the Bush administration heads into months of negotiations with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on the future of US troops in Iraq, it aims to stretch the bounds of executive power to unprecedented lengths.
The administration plans to bypass Congress to forge a status of forces agreement (SOFA) that would grant US forces an unlimited permit to continue engaging in military action in Iraq, according to statements by the State Department's Coordinator for Iraq, David Satterfield, and Assistant Secretary of Defense Mary Beth Long, at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last week.
Drafts of the SOFA, a binding pact, also provide legal immunity for US private contractors operating in Iraq, according to a late January New York Times article, which assertions were not denied by administration officials during the hearing.
With the United Nations mandate that allows US troops to be in Iraq due to expire in December, clear legal options to continue the American presence include a renewal of the mandate or a treaty approved by the Senate.
Yet, Long confirmed last week the administration's SOFA will include an "authority to fight" provision, allowing US forces to carry on status quo operations in Iraq without the consent of Congress.
Under the Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war.
Satterfield held that the result of the Bush-Maliki negotiations will simply be a routine measure to normalize relations with Iraq as it transitions to independent sovereignty; "an agreement which is in its shape similar, in many respects, to SOFAs we have across the world."
However, the standard provisions of a SOFA include banking and postal procedures, legal protection of US military personnel and "covered persons" and the transport of Americans' property into and out of the country. No other status of forces agreement has ever included the authority to fight or immunity for contractors, according to Oona Hathaway, a Yale Law School professor who testified at last week's hearing. "
Full rpeort here:
http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/government/war/bushs_iraq_war/news.php?q=1205373096
Nifty:cool:
Wednesday 12 March 2008
As the Bush administration heads into months of negotiations with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on the future of US troops in Iraq, it aims to stretch the bounds of executive power to unprecedented lengths.
The administration plans to bypass Congress to forge a status of forces agreement (SOFA) that would grant US forces an unlimited permit to continue engaging in military action in Iraq, according to statements by the State Department's Coordinator for Iraq, David Satterfield, and Assistant Secretary of Defense Mary Beth Long, at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last week.
Drafts of the SOFA, a binding pact, also provide legal immunity for US private contractors operating in Iraq, according to a late January New York Times article, which assertions were not denied by administration officials during the hearing.
With the United Nations mandate that allows US troops to be in Iraq due to expire in December, clear legal options to continue the American presence include a renewal of the mandate or a treaty approved by the Senate.
Yet, Long confirmed last week the administration's SOFA will include an "authority to fight" provision, allowing US forces to carry on status quo operations in Iraq without the consent of Congress.
Under the Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war.
Satterfield held that the result of the Bush-Maliki negotiations will simply be a routine measure to normalize relations with Iraq as it transitions to independent sovereignty; "an agreement which is in its shape similar, in many respects, to SOFAs we have across the world."
However, the standard provisions of a SOFA include banking and postal procedures, legal protection of US military personnel and "covered persons" and the transport of Americans' property into and out of the country. No other status of forces agreement has ever included the authority to fight or immunity for contractors, according to Oona Hathaway, a Yale Law School professor who testified at last week's hearing. "
Full rpeort here:
http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/government/war/bushs_iraq_war/news.php?q=1205373096
Nifty:cool: