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Congressional authorization for the Iraq war expires this year. What will the Bush admin do? |
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
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Congressional authorization for the Iraq war ends on December 31, 2008. I blogged about it here .
Instead of returning to Congress for re-authorization, the Bush administration has chosen to sign a bilateral agreement with the Iraq government that would effectively replace the United Nations mandate. The Guardian has now obtained a leaked copy of the draft agreement.
The agreement would authorizes the United States to
"conduct military operations in Iraq and to detain individuals when necessary for imperative reasons of security" without time limit." The draft agreement faces much opposition in Iraq.
"Iraqi critics point out that the agreement contains no limits on numbers of US forces, the weapons they are able to deploy, their legal status or powers over Iraqi citizens, going far beyond long-term US security agreements with other countries."
On the American side, the Bush administration simply does not plan on submitting this agreement to Congress.
Last week the Washington Post ran a piece on the war's expiration date. It's authors emphasized how the draft agreement could not "fill the legal vacuum"
"Since the Constitution gives the power to "declare war" to Congress, the president can't ignore the conditions imposed on him in 2002 without returning for a new grant of authority. He cannot substitute the consent of the Iraqi government for the consent of the U.S. Congress."
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