Iraqis sold out; oil sold off

The White House’s criticism of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is muted nowadays. And no wonder. Last week President Bush and Iraq’s leader agreed to a cozy “declaration of principles." This permits the US to keep permanent “long-term” military bases within country -- expected to house up to 50,000 personnel -- and opens the door to American control of Iraq’s oil sector -- illegal under the 2008 US Appropriations Act, which expressly forbids such control.

The same act and the 2008 Defense Authorization Act preclude the US from establishing “any military installation or base for the purposes of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq."

The deal, which was effected without the approval of the US Congress or Iraq’s Parliament, gives grist to the mill of those who claim the invasion of Iraq was primarily carried out to further Washington’s regional hegemony and cement its control of Iraq’s rich oil and gas resources. It’s couched in terms of “two fully sovereign and independent states with common interests” -- laughable if it wasn’t so tragic.

From the standpoint of the Bush administration it’s a coup. It facilitates an eventual showy withdrawal of US troops, which will please the public and quiet Democrat demands, while all the while an unspecified number of soldiers, Marines, airmen and intelligence officers will remain behind fortified walls. The voters will then be conned into believing Iraq is old news. Online Journal