| The Iraqi caretaker government should..... |
| have a consulting and coordinating role over U.S. troop operations that still needs to be defined. |
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62% |
[ 5 ] |
| have the final say over any major military operations. |
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37% |
[ 3 ] |
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| Total Votes : 8 |
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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Wed May 26, 2004 7:44 am U.S., Britain at Odds on Iraq Resolution |
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| Quote: |
U.S., Britain at Odds on Iraq Resolution
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
WASHINGTON � The United States and Britain appeared at odds Tuesday over how much control Iraq's caretaker government will have over American-led military operations after the handover of political authority on June 30.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) said U.S.-led troops will do "what is necessary to protect themselves." In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair (search) said Iraqis should have the final say over any major military operations.
The apparent difference underscored one of the many pieces of unfinished business as Iraq begins a new era with the selection of interim political leaders who will run the government until elections are held by early next year. The White House says the new leaders will be named by early next week and perhaps sooner.
Bush administration officials said Iraq's new government will have a consulting and coordinating role over U.S. troop operations that still needs to be defined. Britain agrees, yet Blair said significant offensives, such as the U.S. assault on the city of Fallujah last month, would not take place without the consent of the new government.
Powell said at a news conference that Iraq's interim government will have full sovereignty, and so it will "have a role to play, obviously" in the activities of U.S. forces who will still be on the ground after June 30. The United States has 138,000 troops in Iraq who will continue to serve under U.S. command after the turnover of political power.
Powell said that "if it comes down to the United States armed forces protecting themselves or in some way accomplishing their mission" in a way not in accord with the Iraqis, the U.S. forces "will do what is necessary to protect themselves."
In London, Blair stressed that British troops would not be under the control of the interim government after the transfer of power. But he said the "final political control as to whether you go into a place like Fallujah in a particular way -- that has to be done with the consent of the Iraqi government."
A senior Bush administration official in Baghdad said the issue over who has the final word about the activities of U.S.-led coalition troops after sovereignty is transferred would be the first one addressed by the United States and members of the interim government once its leaders are named.
A U.N. Security Council resolution calls for a multinational force that would work in concert with the Iraqi interim government through "consultative and coordinating mechanisms."
Meanwhile, the United States' effort to get a new U.N. resolution approved showed little sign of inducing other countries to offer more troops.
Pakistan said it was considering the U.S. request but only for a special force to protect U.N. facilities in Iraq. France repeated its strong refusal to ever send in soldiers.
Washington's previous calls for more contributions have largely been rebuffed, and suggestions that Muslim or Arab nations should play a military role in Iraq have not yielded positive responses. War opponents Germany and China praised the draft resolution, but Germany, France and Russia are likely to press for the United States to give the interim government more say over U.S., international and Iraqi armed forces.
Following his prime-time speech on Iraq Monday night, Bush rallied for international support. He spoke by phone Tuesday morning with French President Jacques Chirac (search), one of the fiercest critics of U.S. policy there.
"What President Chirac and others have said is they want to make sure that the transfer of sovereignty to the interim government is a real transfer and that's what we want," Bush said in the Oval Office. where he met with seven Iraqi men whose right hands were cut off by members of Saddam Hussein's former regime. "I had a great conversation with President Chirac," Bush said. "We share the same goal: a free and stable and peaceful Iraq."
Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters that Bush and Chirac mutually noted there is "broad agreement" on the outlines of the new resolution but said the two leaders also agreed that "adjustments" must be made in some areas. He wouldn't elaborate.
The draft resolution does not specify how much say Iraq's new government will have over foreign and Iraqi forces, nor does it set a timetable for U.S. forces to depart. Chirac's office said the French president told Bush that the degree of Iraqi control over security and the nation's vast oil reserves "must be studied closely."
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Pah-Wraith
Sheikh
Joined: 30 Nov 2001
Posts: 6012
Location: Londonistan.
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| Wed May 26, 2004 12:12 pm |
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Blair is denying it.
| Yahoo News, UK wrote: | Blair denies Bush Iraq rift
LONDON (Reuters) - Tony Blair has sought to quash talk of a split with the United States over Iraq, saying foreign troops' operations should stay under U.S. command once an interim local government takes over.
But with another eye on Iraqi and world opinion -- anxious for an end to the year-old U.S.-led occupation -- Blair stressed the Baghdad government due to assume power after June 30 would have "full sovereignty" including over military strategy.
On Tuesday, Blair surprised Washington by saying Iraqis would have a veto over operations like the recent attacks on Falluja, prompting U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to fire back that American forces would stay under U.S. charge.
As media and opposition politicians pounced on the apparently first open signs of division between London and Washington since the Iraq war, Blair insisted on Wednesday he was still in line with his ally President George W. Bush.
"We are both absolutely agreed there should be full sovereignty transferred to the Iraqi people and that the multinational force should remain under American command," he told parliament on Wednesday.
"The ultimate strategic and political decision-making passes to the Iraqi government after the 30th of June...Once strategic decisions have been made, the running of any operations is under the military forces and the commanders of those forces."
There was "no question" of U.S. or British troops being under anything other than their own national command, he added.
Clearly stung by a media storm in Britain, Blair sent Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott onto the airwaves earlier to label talk of an Anglo-American split "complete rubbish."
TABOO ISSUE
Prescott said the British and U.S. statements boiled down to two non-conflicting points: Iraqis having general political control over foreign troops, except when those troops were attacked.
"Under circumstances which can occur where a terrorist attack takes place and attacks a military force, whether it's the Americans or the British, clearly they will be expected to defend themselves. Nobody doubts that," he said.
The government line, however, still appeared to fall somewhat short of Washington's broader interpretation.
Powell said on Tuesday the United States "would take into account" the Iraqis' view at political and military level.
"Ultimately, however, if it comes down to the United States armed forces protecting themselves or in some way accomplishing their mission in a way that might not be in total consonance with what the Iraqi interim government might want to do at a particular moment in time, U.S. forces remain under U.S. command and will do what is necessary to protect themselves," he said.
The charged issue of control over troops is crucial to convincing Iraqis -- and sceptical powers like France and Russia -- that London and Washington are serious about handing back sovereignty to Iraq. It also touches an American taboo over foreign control of its troops.
A draft U.N. resolution presented by Washington and London to endorse the interim Iraqi government would allow U.S.-led forces to "take all measures" to keep order and does not contain a specific Iraqi veto clause. But British officials say such an effective veto would be included in an exchange of letters with the interim government and agreed before a U.N. vote.
Some analysts speculated Britain's position may be an attempt to reassure other countries -- particularly in Europe -- over Iraq, or a response to calls from some at home for Blair to distance himself from Bush.
Blair's alliance with Bush over Iraq has helped send his popularity ratings tumbling and set him up for a beating in upcoming June 30 local and European elections.
But Rosemary Hollis, a Middle East expert at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, said she thought Blair's position was a genuine response to complications on the ground.
"The whole period between now and the end of the year will be very messy," she added. "The U.S. has to let go of its desire to have everything streamlined and controlled, and accept mess." |
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Wed May 26, 2004 4:54 pm |
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I watched the questions of the press in Blair's speech last night...
It was quite good...His support for the war has not changed. 
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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DemonClassY
Commodore
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 1986
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A
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| Sat May 29, 2004 4:16 pm |
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It's their friggin country!!!!!
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First city to bring home the Lombardi Trophy and Lord Stanley in the same season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sat May 29, 2004 5:22 pm |
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So was Germany during the the 1930's and '40s. Does that mean we shouldn't have gotten involved?
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"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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DemonClassY
Commodore
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 1986
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A
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| Sat May 29, 2004 6:25 pm |
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We have done all that we could in Iraq, now that there is a NEW government we should hand over all the power to them.
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First city to bring home the Lombardi Trophy and Lord Stanley in the same season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Sat May 29, 2004 7:45 pm |
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| DemonClassY wrote: | | We have done all that we could in Iraq, now that there is a NEW government we should hand over all the power to them. |
Don't you know anything? We are transfering full sovereignty to the Iraqis on JUNE 30th!!!!! and yet that does NOT mean that we should pull out...
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sat May 29, 2004 7:51 pm |
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Please don't be rude.
| DemonClassY wrote: | | We have done all that we could in Iraq, now that there is a NEW government we should hand over all the power to them. |
The new leaders actually said they still want our support......
-------signature-------
"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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DemonClassY
Commodore
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 1986
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A
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| Sun May 30, 2004 2:32 pm |
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Thank you. Now I know. And yeah there is no reason to be rude, at all.
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First city to bring home the Lombardi Trophy and Lord Stanley in the same season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Leo Wyatt
Sweetest Angel
Joined: 25 Feb 2004
Posts: 19045
Location: Investigating A Crime Scene. What did Quark do this time?
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| Sun May 30, 2004 3:47 pm |
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The soldiers does not need to be pulled out.
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