NYT,pg1: US Has Leverage, But Wants to Show Iraqis in Charge

[DeepModem Mom]

NEW GOVERNMENT
U.S. Has Leverage, but Wants to Show Iraqis Are in Charge
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN

Published: June 29, 2004


Iraq was officially made sovereign yesterday, but how sovereign is still in dispute.

Iraq will have all the formal powers of a sovereign state: the ability to appoint and dismiss ministers; to allocate budgets; to conduct negotiations with foreign countries. But it is not clear what will happen if the Americans disagree with Iraqi decisions. Even though the United States has the leverage of troops and billions of dollars in reconstruction contracts, Iraqi complaints of American interference could embarrass an administration eager to prove to the world that Iraqis are now in charge.

A host of issues remain outstanding. Despite an agreement to consult on military matters, Iraq and the United States lack a formal accord governing the status of foreign forces and are relying on an American occupation directive covering several important matters.

American officials continue to hold Iraqi prisoners, among them Saddam Hussein, although the new Iraqi government has said it will take custody of him soon. How many other prisoners will be handed over is not clear.

And although Iraqi officials and legal scholars say that Iraq has the right to change the occupation-era rules, American military officials say that some of those governing military matters are binding. It is also not clear how Iraqi leaders would rescind other orders if they want to, since Iraq has no formal legislature.

Administration officials say the United States will have to exercise its influence tactfully and quietly.

Instead of holding news briefings, Ambassador John D. Negroponte plans to be nearly invisible....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/29/international/middleeast/29DIPL.html

[silverpatronus]

1. if hell exists...

negroponte has a space already reserved.

[CWebster]

2. What a farce. nt

[Mandate My Ass]

3. NYT: Sovereignty is all smoke and mirrors

but that's OK.

I wonder how journalists like writing fiction.

[tlcandie]

4. SHOW being the key word here .. all is for show while the puppet

masters pull the strings behind the stages with this regime!

[Barrett808]

5. "Negroponte plans to be nearly invisible"

All the better to direct his death squads...ah, reliving the good old days of Central American counterinsurgency warfare.

[Cocoa]

6. what if Iraq wants to find the missing money?

what if they want Bremer to come back and tell them what happened to the $20 billion that's gone?

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E36E1D04-8906-47ED-A601-B5761061AA28.htm

[Maeve]

7. Expect some sort of "spat" between Iraq and the US soon

We will back down and give in to some sort of dust-up concocted in the next week or so, thus "proving" the independence of the new Iraqi government....

Any bets?