Less than 24 hours after the last US troops crossed the border on Saturday at around 7:30 AM Baghdad time, an arrest warrant was issued to Sunni VP Tariq al Hashimi. Fortunately he took a plane to Mosul (Kurdistan) or the semi autonomous Kurdish sector to prevent an embarrassing arrest and consequent Kangaroo court.
Despite the allegations that he personally dispatched to kill member of the government (a charge that Maliki could also be attributed to, as well as all others) shows how fragile democracy in Iraq is.... This morning's article on the New York Times by Tim Arango points out some good reasons, un-foreseen results by the Obama Foreign Policy Team his State department and advisers:
(1)"... He also threatened the Kurd s, valuable allies with close ties to the Americans, warning that there would be “problems” if they protected Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi,..."
(2) "... a judiciary that the populace views as beholden to one man and a political culture with no space for compromise..."
(3)"... Many on the extensive American Embassy staff here have gone home for the holidays. Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, who left the country after a ceremony last week to mark the end of the war, cut short his trip to rush back to Baghdad, and was meeting with senior Iraqi leaders, as was David H. Petraeus, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and former military commander in Iraq, who arrived on Tuesday, an American official said.
(4)"...If the crisis continues to intensify, the Obama administration is likely to draw new criticism for failing to negotiate an extension of the American troop presence in Iraq.
Here is the key to it all......... President Obama sat down in October to deal with this issue , when he should have done it early in 2011. But his mind is on re-election and knowing his approval ratings he wants a legacy.......
Bringing troops back home. The United States of America since 1945 has achieved SOFA (Status of Forces Agreements) in over 100 countries worldwide, some are one page, others are as complicated as a 200 page constitution, but they have been made.
The most importat ones: Europe (Spain, Italy, UK and foremost Germany) for 66 years they have been negotiated, amended the one with Japan another (66) and there have been changes made due to civil law suits and so forth.. In South Korea (58) years and going....
Likewise the United States of America has had troops in Europe for (66) years continously......initially to prevent a Soviet invasion while Europe reconstructed after the War, then the Cold War.....from 1.4 Million troops at its peak down to less than 100,000 now but they are still there, responding to the crisis in the Balkans, Kosovo
Japan is another (66) SOFA and believe me, changes have been agreed along the way
The US has troops in South Korea for over (58) years and that SOFA has also changed. Both Republican and Democrat presidents since Eisenhower have all managed to agree on renewals, of these agreements but Obama.
This is what change means......... not leading in a conflict like Libya, not negotiating a SOFA a year before its up but in October three months from its termination.
It is a sad day in Iraq, for many Iraqis who briefly rejoiced the departure of the American troops and as Tim Arango clearly said: "..... the departure of American troops and potentially tarnishing what has been cast as a major foreign policy achievement for President Obama..."
Where are those FP advisers now? We have troops in Europe yet, for over 44 years to prevent the Soviets from invading, In South Korea we have been there for 58 years to prevent North Korea from Invading. In Iraq we spent only 9 years to prevent them from killing themselves (7 1/2 years the SOFA was in place the last 1 1/2 it was just let to die off its existence) that is Obama's FP, what else could you expect
Despite the allegations that he personally dispatched to kill member of the government (a charge that Maliki could also be attributed to, as well as all others) shows how fragile democracy in Iraq is.... This morning's article on the New York Times by Tim Arango points out some good reasons, un-foreseen results by the Obama Foreign Policy Team his State department and advisers:
(1)"... He also threatened the Kurd s, valuable allies with close ties to the Americans, warning that there would be “problems” if they protected Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi,..."
(2) "... a judiciary that the populace views as beholden to one man and a political culture with no space for compromise..."
(3)"... Many on the extensive American Embassy staff here have gone home for the holidays. Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, who left the country after a ceremony last week to mark the end of the war, cut short his trip to rush back to Baghdad, and was meeting with senior Iraqi leaders, as was David H. Petraeus, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and former military commander in Iraq, who arrived on Tuesday, an American official said.
(4)"...If the crisis continues to intensify, the Obama administration is likely to draw new criticism for failing to negotiate an extension of the American troop presence in Iraq.
Here is the key to it all......... President Obama sat down in October to deal with this issue , when he should have done it early in 2011. But his mind is on re-election and knowing his approval ratings he wants a legacy.......
Bringing troops back home. The United States of America since 1945 has achieved SOFA (Status of Forces Agreements) in over 100 countries worldwide, some are one page, others are as complicated as a 200 page constitution, but they have been made.
The most importat ones: Europe (Spain, Italy, UK and foremost Germany) for 66 years they have been negotiated, amended the one with Japan another (66) and there have been changes made due to civil law suits and so forth.. In South Korea (58) years and going....
Likewise the United States of America has had troops in Europe for (66) years continously......initially to prevent a Soviet invasion while Europe reconstructed after the War, then the Cold War.....from 1.4 Million troops at its peak down to less than 100,000 now but they are still there, responding to the crisis in the Balkans, Kosovo
Japan is another (66) SOFA and believe me, changes have been agreed along the way
The US has troops in South Korea for over (58) years and that SOFA has also changed. Both Republican and Democrat presidents since Eisenhower have all managed to agree on renewals, of these agreements but Obama.
This is what change means......... not leading in a conflict like Libya, not negotiating a SOFA a year before its up but in October three months from its termination.
It is a sad day in Iraq, for many Iraqis who briefly rejoiced the departure of the American troops and as Tim Arango clearly said: "..... the departure of American troops and potentially tarnishing what has been cast as a major foreign policy achievement for President Obama..."
Where are those FP advisers now? We have troops in Europe yet, for over 44 years to prevent the Soviets from invading, In South Korea we have been there for 58 years to prevent North Korea from Invading. In Iraq we spent only 9 years to prevent them from killing themselves (7 1/2 years the SOFA was in place the last 1 1/2 it was just let to die off its existence) that is Obama's FP, what else could you expect
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