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Pair try to ease lawmakers' concerns. Officials say withdrawal deadlines reflect improved conditions
By Lolita C. Baldor
Associated Press
Published on Thursday, Nov 20, 2008
WASHINGTON: The security agreement between U.S. and Iraq provides both the time and authority needed for American troops to train Iraqi forces and pursue terrorists, senior Bush administration officials said Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were explaining and defending the agreement in classified briefings to Congress, some members of which are skeptical of the agreement that lays out U.S. troop withdrawal timelines and gives Iraq limited legal jurisdiction over U.S. forces and military contractors who commit crimes.
The 21-page document was signed on Monday in Baghdad by U.S. and Iraqi officials after months of painstaking negotiations, but it still must be approved by the Iraqi parliament.
Although the Bush administration contends congressional approval is not required on the U.S. side, the White House dispatched Gates and Rice to Capitol Hill to assuage lawmakers' concerns as the clock ticks down on the existing United Nations mandate for the troops' presence in Iraq. The U.N. mandate expires on Dec. 31.
The agreement sets a June 30, 2009, deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraqi cities and towns and a Dec. 31, 2011, deadline for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq, according to a copy obtained by the Associated Press.
The pact generally calls for the United States to coordinate military operations with the Iraqis and aid the country in deterring any security threats, but it also says that ''Iraqi land, sea, and air shall not be used as a launching or transit point for attacks against other countries.''
Officials dismissed suggestions that the United States has retreated on its initial vehement opposition to withdrawal deadlines, insisting that any troop drawdown be based on security conditions. Instead, they said that change is due to improved security and better Iraqi forces.
''Their competence, their confidence has increased tremendously. And so, that's why we're able to work on a date,'' said White House press secretary Dana Perino.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Geoff Morrell echoed those comments.
''The security situation has improved so dramatically, and the Iraqi security forces have improved so dramatically that we are confident that, if things continue to trend as they have been, our services will not be needed in Iraq, come 2012,'' Morrell told reporters.
He said officials believe the agreement both respects Iraqi sovereignty and provides U.S. forces with the authority to continue to go after insurgents, while still giving the Iraqis the training and equipment they need to take over security of their own country.
WASHINGTON: The security agreement between U.S. and Iraq provides both the time and authority needed for American troops to train Iraqi forces and pursue terrorists, senior Bush administration officials said Wednesday.
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