Overwhelmed by sadness, empathy and disbelief, the world’s eyes are focused on the rescue and relief efforts for those in Haiti. However, many who have worked in Haiti fear that a preventable long-term disaster lies on the horizon if international interventions don’t break with past patterns. As international aid begins to pour into Haiti, we have a brief moment to break with past mistakes and bring real change to the country.
By exempting not just military spending, but also non-military international engagement and homeland security from his proposed spending freeze, the president has sent an important message: Strengthening non-military tools is essential to U.S. security.
Reminiscent of the political problems in Afghanistan that have plagued the Obama White House, on Monday Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi vetoed a set of amendments to Iraq’s election law approved by the Iraqi parliament. The veto may lead to a delay of the Iraqi elections, currently scheduled for January 21, 2010, and could trigger a debate over U.S. plans to withdraw from Iraq.
Under the terms of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), President Barack Obama is currently bound to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2011. Three factors, however, make it probable that the president will attempt to renegotiate the terms of the agreement as it approaches its conclusion: Iraqi security forces will continue to be logistically dependent on the U.S. military. The United States will be increasingly dependent on oil from Iraq and the wider region. And the American left will be unable to exert significant electoral pressure on the legislative or executive branch, given the U.S. foreign policy establishment’s calculation of the strategic consequences of a complete withdrawal.
President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki negotiated a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) in November 2008, providing legal authority for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq until 2011. The agreement faced widespread opposition in Iraq, as many Iraqis saw it as legalizing and legitimizing the occupation of their country for another three years.
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Dahr Jamail’s The Will To Resist: Soldiers who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan (Haymarket Books). The testimonies below were collected at a national conference, "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan," held by Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Parliament members are afraid to attend meetings. Iraq’s nascent economy is deteriorating. Hundreds of armed militias are ready to fight for their own interests. This is Iraq today.
On November 17, 2008, when Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker signed an agreement for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, citizens from both countries applauded. While many were disappointed about the lengthy timeline for the withdrawal of the troops, it appeared that a roadmap was set to end the war and occupation. However, the first step — withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009 — is full of loopholes, and tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers will remain in the cities after the “deadline” passes.
Sudan: The two F-16s caught the trucks deep in the northern desert. Within minutes, the column of vehicles was a string of shattered wrecks burning fiercely in the January sun. Surveillance drones spotted a few vehicles that had survived the storm of bombs and cannon shells, and the fighter-bombers returned to finish the job.