With the final push on to reach a long-term U.S.-Iraq security agreement, Iraqis still don’t know what’s in it.
According to this op-ed by Abd Al Hadi Mahdi, the managing editor of Iraq’s Sotal Iraq newspaper, it’s time that the Iraqi government reveal its contents – before a final agreement is reached.
Clearly a supporter of the deal, Mahdi writes in part:
“Despite the disclosure of some of the contents of the Convention, there is much that remains unknown to the Iraqi public. Since no harm would result if Iraq’s government made the contents of the draft-Convention public before it is finalized, that is exactly what it should do. That would be in the interest of creating a national consensus and would show the Iraqi people how the agreement is compatible with their own aspirations. It would also allay the fears of those who oppose the deal, even though many of these people were opposed to the agreement even before its first letters were written.”
He also writes that an agreement on a U.S. withdrawal remains elusive, that the Iraqi government has too many officials confusing the public by offering differing views of the agreement.
By Managing Editor Abd Al Hadi Mahdi
Translated By Nicolas Dagher
August 24, 2008
Iraq – Sotal Iraq – Original Article (Arabic)
Since the U.S. Secretary of State’s visit to Baghdad last Thursday, the Security Convention to be signed by Iraq and the United States has become the dominant issue in the media – not that it was much less of a topic before she arrived.
Rice’s visit raised many questions. Was the purpose of the visit to finalize the controversial agreement or to push Iraqis to sort out the difficulties that are obstructing the political process? Given that the current Republican administration is counting the days leading to the end of its term, this may have been Rice’s last visit as Secretary of State.
Divided between opponents and supporters of the Convention, statements in the Iraqi and the American political arena have taken up tremendous media air time. In addition, neighboring countries have entered the fray, with Iraqis assuring them that the Convention won’t be directed at them and will not be used as a springboard for aggression against other nations [Many surrounding countries fear a long-term U.S. presence, because they think Washington will use Iraq as a base for attacking them].
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated Iraqi press coverage of the Iraq War.
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