WASHINGTON (AFP) — Key sections of a legal accord to allow US troops to remain in Iraq for another three years may be lost in translation, US officials said, hours before Iraqi MPs voted Wednesday on whether to endorse it.
The parts of the status of forces agreement (SOFA) in question concern Iraqi legal jurisdiction over US soldiers who commit crimes off base and off duty, the requirement for US troops to obtain Iraqi permission for all military operations and a ban on the US staging attacks on other countries from Iraq.
SOFA, ready to be voted on in the 275-member Iraqi parliament Wednesday, took a year of painstaking negotiations to get to this stage.
Once approved, it will be the legal framework to replace the UN mandate on the US military presence in Iraq that runs out on December 31.
But three officials in Washington said the administration of US President George W. Bush has withheld the official English translation of the agreement to suppress a public dispute with the Iraqis until after the parliamentary vote.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the official English language text of the agreement was designated as "sensitive but unclassified."
"There are a number of areas in here where they have agreement on the same wording but different understandings about what the words mean," said one US official.
The White House National Security Council said it had held up the translation's release until the Iraqi parliament votes.
"We plan to release it soon," said spokesman Gordon Johndroe. "We are waiting for the Iraqi political process to move further down the road."
In the event the SOFA is approved, the US could simply circumvent parts of the agreement, said officials.
For example, for the provision that bars the US from launching military operations into neighboring countries from Iraqi territory, the administration could cite another provision that allows parties to retain the right of self-defense -- such as pursuing groups that launch strikes on US targets from Syria or Iran.
The provision that appears to require the US to notify Iraqi officials in advance of any planned military operations and seek Iraqi approval for them could also be altered, said the officials.
Some US military figures find the provision especially troubling, although US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, head of the US Central Command David Petraeus and the top US commander in Iraq Raymond Odierno have all endorsed it.
"Telling the Iraqis in advance would be an invitation to an ambush," said one US official.
The Iraqi government and security forces are "thoroughly penetrated by the insurgents, the Iranians, the Sadrists (followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr) and ordinary folks who just sell scraps of intelligence," he added.
Officials said the administration interprets this particular provision not to mean providing thoroughly detailed plans of action.
Rather, US commanders would merely need to inform their Iraqi counterparts that, for example, they plan to launch counterterrorism operations somewhere in an Iraqi city or province sometime during the month of January.
The pact was approved by the Iraqi government on November 16, but has not yet been ratified by the parliament.
To be approved Wednesday, the SOFA needs 138 votes from the 275 Iraqi MPs.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
