Iraqis believe security pact to cause division

Iraq Agreement Feature IRAQ / IraqiNews.com: Ismail al-Difaai, an Iraqi citizen, believes that the cabinet’s approval of the security agreement draft with the U.S. will cause division among Iraqi political parties. “Signing the agreement will lead to a division between all political blocs and parties,” al-Difaai, 49 from Sadr City, told IraqiNews.com.

“The Iraqi government succeeded in changing the Iraqis’ opinion regarding the agreement as they managed to convince most of the Iraqi political blocs that the deal will realize great things to Iraq,” Alaa al-Huwiegel, 40-year-old journalist, told Iraqi News. The Iraqi cabinet had endorsed the controversial pact, also known as the status-of-forces agreement (SOFA), by an overwhelming majority of 27 votes to 1. The Iraqi and U.S. sides have been negotiating a long-term security deal during the past months.

The pact should determine the legal framework for the U.S. presence in Iraq after the end of this year, when the international mandate granted by the UN Security Council to the U.S. army to intervene in Iraq is due to expire. Khidr Abdul Razaq, teacher, from the al-Maaqal region in Basra, said that “approving the agreement is a wise decision of the government and a positive step for the Iraqi people because the absence of U.S. troops in this stage will deteriorate the situation.”

For her part, Yassmien al-Tamemi, an employee from the al-Ashariya region, supports signing the agreement. “I support the security agreement and I believe that the presence of U.S. forces in this stage is very important, and all Iraqi officials know that very well, but they ignore it for electoral reasons,” she explained.

In Karbala, Journalist Ziyab al-Taei said “the agreement will end the U.S. troops’ presence in Iraq and so I support it because it gives this feeling it will bring back Iraq‘s sovereignty which all of us are aiming for.” Employee Abdulazim Daya rejected the pact, saying its ‘vague and not clear.’ In Baghdad, Saad Khalil, a student from al-Saadon neighborhood, said “the deal has a great benefit to Iraq as the Iraqi troops’ capabilities still limited and they can not defend Iraq‘s borders.” Among the measures included in the agreement, U.S. forces must vacate Iraqi cities by June 2011, leave Iraq by the end of 2011 and grant Iraqi authorities more power of the operations of the U.S. mission.

It also gives Iraq the right to try U.S. soldiers and defense contractors in the case of serious crimes committed off-duty and off-base. The deal would replace a U.N. mandate governing the U.S. presence in Iraq that expires Dec. 31. More than two-thirds of the 275-seat legislature attended Monday’s session, raising hopes that parliament will be able to muster a quorum for a Nov. 24 vote. The session ended after the agreement’s text was read to lawmakers, the first step to adopt legislation.