Congresswoman Barbara Lee Speaks Out Against Bush Making Iraq Treaty Without Congress

[babylonsister]

Experts: SOFA Faces Legal Uncertainty

Wednesday 19 November 2008

by: Maya Schenwar, t r u t h o u t | Report



The pending US-Iraq pact would not only bypass Congress and enrage a large part of the Iraqi Parliament - it could tie the Obama administration's hands. (Photo: Scott Olson / Getty Images)

snip//

The SOFA's ambiguity has prominent Congress members cautioning against it.

"I am ... troubled by vague language in the agreement that will likely cause misunderstandings and conflict between the US and Iraq in the future," said House Armed Service Committee Chairman Ike Skelton in a statement.

Other Congress members suggest that many of those confusions would be irrelevant if an earlier withdrawal deadline were built into the pact.

"The Bush agreement commits the United States to a timetable that could leave U.S. troops in Iraq until Dec. 31, 2011," said Barbara Lee, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a statement released on Monday. "Aside from the fact that the America people are plainly fed up with this unnecessary war and occupation in Iraq and want to see it ended, occupying Iraq for three more years under the Bush plan would cost American taxpayers $360 billion based on current spending levels. That money obviously could be better spent digging our economy out of the ditch the policies of the Bush Administration has put it in."

Skipping Congressional Approval

As the Bush administration has conducted negotiations with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over the past year, it has repeatedly dismissed calls for Congressional consultation, arguing that SOFAs are routinely concluded as sole executive agreements. However, the standard provisions of a SOFA include banking and postal procedures, legal protection of US military personnel and "covered persons" and the transport of Americans' property into and out of the country. According to Hathaway, the US-Iraq SOFA is markedly different: It grants US troops the authority to fight. Under the Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war.

"This agreement goes far beyond a typical SOFA agreement," Hathaway told Truthout. "In my view, the president is legally required to obtain the support of Congress for the agreement, either through a majority vote in both houses or a two-thirds vote in the Senate."


more...

http://www.truthout.org/111908J

[Andy823]

1. I am not an expert

But I would think that if Bush can do this "without" congress's approval, then why can't Obama and Iraq work out a "new" deal that "would" be approved by congress making the deal Bush made non binding?

Bush has done whatever he wants without going through the proper channels, so I would think that Obama and congress could find ways to get around all the things Bush did in order to screw over Obama!

[madrchsod]

2. it`s not a legal contract.

i think the boys in Baghdad understand this

[SteveM]

3. Bush ignoring Congress has become sport (nt)

[babylonsister]

4. Well, the game is just about over. Finally! nt