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.
With nine months left in office, the Bush administration has opened negotiations with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that are expected to set parameters within which future relationships between Iraq and the United States will be conducted. The end product, as presently envisioned by Washington, will be either one document with two major sectionsÂsecurity issues and all othersÂor possibly two documents. The main thrust of the security document reportedly will be a traditional status of forces agreement (SOFA) that defines the extent to which Iraq’s laws will apply to U.S. personnel in Iraq. The other agreement will cover non-security issues.
[Note: This essay was drawn from FPIF analyst Mark Engler’s new book, How to Rule the World: The Coming Battle Over the Global Economy, published by Nation Books.]