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Iraq-U.S. Deal – Money is not the Issue
The current discussions about the U.S.-Iraq Status of Force (SOFA) and Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) are intensifying.
The parties in Iraq aligned with the government want, to one degree or another, modify the U.S. written agreements, while the parties not aligned with the government want no such agreements at all.
Some believe the issue is money, while I believe that it is more than that.
Patrick Cockburn reports in today’s Independent that the U.S. is using financial blackmail to get the agreements signed:
The US is holding hostage some $50bn (£25bn) of Iraq’s money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pressure the Iraqi government into signing an agreement seen by many Iraqis as prolonging the US occupation indefinitely, according to information leaked to The Independent.
US negotiators are using the existence of $20bn in outstanding court judgments against Iraq in the US, to pressure their Iraqi counterparts into accepting the terms of the military deal, details of which were reported for the first time in this newspaper yesterday.
Dr. iRack sees this differently. The Iraqi government, he says, does not want to sign the agreements with the U.S. because then the money would lose immunity:
The real issue is not about infringements on Iraqi sovereignty but a little known aspect of the UNSCRs related to the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI). The DFI (originally established by UNSCR 1483 in May 2003 as a replacement for Oil for Food) is composed of billions of dollars of revenue from oil exports and assets seized from Saddam Hussein. Under this arrangement, the DFI, intended for Iraqi reconstruction needs, is immune from claims made by creditors or others with legal claims (including pending and potential criminal lawsuits) against Saddam’s regime. But, if the UNSCR goes away, so does this immunity, and all the money would be put at risk. As this reality has sunk in, the Iraqi leadership is freaked.
So while Cockburn sees the U.S. as using the funds for blackmail to get the agreement signed, Dr. iRack sees the funds current immunity as reason for the Iraqis not to sign.
In the comments he adds:
The DFI money is safer under the UNSCR. With a bilateral agreement, it is at the whim of an executive order–which can be changed by a new administration. So it would be odd for the Bush administration to threaten the Iraqi government with a worse deal than they could get under the UNSCR. That’s not usually how threats work.
I have read through the relevant UN resolutions and, if these runs out by the end of this year, the money would be under sole control of the Iraqi Central Bank, but still held in an account at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank.
The U.S., like other countries, has put these funds under immunity from lawsuits because the UN resolutions demanded such. If the resolutions run out, there certainly is the risk that the U.S. may take away the immunity and seize parts of the funds.
But to blackmail the Iraqi government with the stick of possible seizure, the agreements would have to provide as carrot a guarantee that such will not happen. I believe only Congress could give such a permanent assurance and Bush does not plan to let Congress near the issue.
Bush threatening to take the money away is a bluff.
The money, I think, is simply a sideshow. $20 billion might sound like a lot of money but for a resource rich country which exports 2 million barrel of oil per day at a price of $100/barrel it is a strategically neglectable amount.
If, at the end of the year, the UN resolution runs out, the U.S. forces in Iraq would be outside of international law with some possibly nasty legal consequences. The Iraqis are not in the weak position here.
The real issue are the big parts of the deal. The bases, the sovereignity of airspace and the immunity of U.S. forces and contractors.
So what will happen now?
The Iraqis will want to push the problem away until Bush is gone. Indeed the Washington Post today reports:
The Iraqi government may request an extension of the United Nations security mandate authorizing a U.S. military presence, due to expire in December, amid growing domestic criticism of new bilateral arrangements now being negotiated with the Bush administration, according to senior Iraqi officials.
The last time Iraqi parliament did not agree to such an extension of the UN resolution and, without a parliament vote, the UN Security Council may prevent another prolongation.
But if Maliki can tell the parliament that he will likely get a better deal next year, it might favor to go with it.
I do not see what the U.S. could do to prevent this. With a veto in the Security Council Bush would put the troops into legal limbo. The Iraqis could demand their immediate retreat.
That situation would be awkward.
B, I can’t get into this thinking. I hate to sound like a simpleton, but Iraq and Iraqis getting money? I don’t understand. Of the billions spent already, what benefit has the average Iraqi person seen? $20 billion would make a very good start on an oil refinery. But I don’t expect to see it owned by a true Iraqi cooperative or true representative government. As I said once before, Iraq does not exist (at least in the form required) for this type of discussion.
”…while the parties not aligned with the government want no such agreements at all.” Yeah, I would think so too… those words sum it up in a nutshell.
I haven’t read enough lately and perhaps the current government in Iraq is more legitimate than I realize. But I see the Iraqi government as fractured, broken, and unrepresentative as a national institution. Is it more functional than I imagine? The last couple of posts on this site makes me believe that the Iraq government is worse than what began under Bremer. (link from a comment on Juan Cole’s site.)
THURSDAY, MAY 01, 2008
Mayday Message from Iraqi Trade Unions
May Day 2008 Statement from the Iraqi Labour Movement To the Workers and All Peace Loving People of the World
On this day of international labour solidarity we call on our fellow trade unionists and all those worldwide who have stood against war and occupation to increase support for our struggle for freedom from occupation – both the military and economic.
We call upon the governments, corporations and institutions behind the ongoing occupation of Iraq to respond to our demands for real democracy, true sovereignty and self-determination free of all foreign interference.
Five years of invasion, war and occupation have brought nothing but death, destruction, misery and suffering to our people.
In the name of our “liberation,” the invaders have destroyed our nation’s infrastructure, bombed our neighbourhoods, broken into our homes, traumatized our children, assaulted and arrested many of our family members and neighbours, permitted the looting of our national treasures, and turned nearly twenty percent of our people into refugees.
The invaders helped to foment and then exploit sectarian divisions and terror attacks where there had been none.
Our union offices have been raided. Union property has been seized and destroyed. Our bank accounts have been frozen. Our leaders have been beaten, arrested, abducted and assassinated. Our rights as workers have been routinely violated.
The Ba’athist legislation of 1987, which banned trade unions in the public sector and public enterprises (80% of all workers), is still in effect, enforced by Paul Bremer’s post-invasion Occupation Authority and then by all subsequent Iraqi administrations.
This is an attack on our rights and basic precepts of a democratic society, and is a grim reminder of the shadow of dictatorship still stalking our country. Despite the horrific conditions in our country, we continue to organise and protest against the occupation, against workplaces abuses, and for better treatment and safer conditions.
Despite the sectarian plots around us, we believe in unity and solidarity and a common aim of public service, equality, and freedom to organise without external intrusions and coercion.
Our legitimacy comes from our members. Our principles of organisation are based on transparent and internationally recognised International Labour Organisation standards. We call upon our allies and all the world’s peace-loving peoples to help us to end the nightmare of occupation and restore our sovereignty and national independence so that we can chart our own course to the future.
1) We demand an immediate withdrawal of all foreign
troops from our country, and utterly reject the agreement being
negotiated with the USA for long-term bases and a military presence. The
continued occupation fuels the violence in Iraq rather than alleviating
it. Iraq must be returned to full sovereignty.
2) We demand the passage of a labour law promised by our
Constitution, which adheres to ILO principles and on which Iraqi trade
unionists have been fully consulted, to protect the rights of workers to
organize, bargain and strike, independent of state control and
interference.
3) We demand an end to meddling in our sovereign economic
affairs by the International Monetary Fund, USA and UK. We demand
withdrawal of all economic conditionalities attached to the IMF’s
agreements with Iraq, removal of US and UK economic “advisers”
from the corridors of Iraqi government, and a recognition by those bodies
that no major economic decisions concerning our services and resources
can be made while foreign troops occupy the country.
4) We demand that the US government and others
immediately cease lobbying for the oil law, which would fracture the
country and hand control over our oil to multinational companies like
Exxon, BP and Shell. We demand that all oil companies be prevented from
entering into any long-term agreement concerning oil while Iraq remains
occupied. We demand that the Iraqi government tear up the current draft
of the oil law, and begin to develop a legitimate oil policy based on
full and genuine consultation with the Iraqi people. Only after all
occupation forces are gone should a long term plan for the development of
our oil resources be adopted.
We seek your support and solidarity to help us end the military and economic occupation of our country.
We ask for your solidarity for our right to organise and strike in defence of our interests as workers and of our public services and resources. Our public services are the legacy of generations before us and the inheritance of all future generations and must not be privatised. We thank you for standing by us.
We too stand with you in your own struggles for real democracy which we know you also struggle for, and against privatisation, exploitation and daily disempowerment in your workplaces and lives.
We commend those of you who have organised strikes and demonstrations to end the occupation in solidarity with us and we hope these actions will continue.
We look forward to the day when we have a world based on co-operation and solidarity.
We look forward to a world free from war, sectarianism, competition and exploitation.
Endorsed by:
Hassan Juma’a Awad, President, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Falah Alwan, President, Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI)
Subhi Albadri, President, General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)
Nathim Rathi, President, Iraqi Port Workers Trade Union
Samir Almuawi, President, Engineering Professionals Trade Union
Ghzi Mushatat, President, Mechanic and Print Shop Trade Union
Waleed Alamiri, President, Electricity Trade Union
Ilham Talabani, President, Banking Services Trade Union
Abdullah Ubaid, President, Railway Trade Union
Ammar Ali, President, Transportation Trade Union
Abdalzahra Abdilhassan, President, Service Employees Trade Union
Sundus Sabeeh, President, Barber Shop Workers Trade Union
Kareem Lefta Sindan, President, Lumber and Construction Trade Union, General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW)
Sabah Almusawi, President, Wasit Independent Trade Union
Shakir Hameed, President, Lumber And Construction Trade Union (GFWCUI)
Awad Ahmed, President, Teachers Federation of Salahideen
Alaa Ghazi Mushatat, President, Agricultural And Food Substance Industries
Adnan Rathi Shakir, President, Water Resources Trade Union
Nahrawan Yas, President, Woman Affairs Bureau
Sabah Alyasiri, President (GFWCUI) Babil
Ali Tahi, President (GFWCUI) Najaf
Ali Abbas, President (GFWCUI) Basra
Muhi Abdalhussien, President (GFWCUI), Wasit
Ali Hashim Abdilhussien, President (GFWCUI) Kerbala
Ali Hussien, President (GFWCUI) Anbar
Mustafa Ameen, Arab Workers Bureau, President (GFWCUI)
Thameer Mzeail, Health Services, Union Committee
Khadija Saeed Abdullah, Teachers Federation, Member
Asmahan, Khudair, Woman Affairs, Textile Trade Unions
Adil Aljabiri, Oil Workers Trade Union Executive Bureau Member
Muhi Abdalhussien, Nadia Flaih, Service Employees Trade Unions
Rawneq Mohammed, Member, Media and Print Shop Trade Union
Abdlakareem Abdalsada, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Saeed Nima, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Sabri Abdalkareem, Member, (GFWCUI) Babil
Amjad Aljawhary, Representative of GFWCUI in North America
The Monday, June 2 post (a later post) on this ‘The General Union of Oil Employees in Basra’ web site is a must read also.
Posted by: Rick | Jun 7 2008 1:58 utc | 6
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