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Iraq Security Pact Highlights Battle Between U.S., Iran
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has not openly backed the deal.
(Wathiq Khuzaie - AP)
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The perception that Iran controls armed groups has had a chilling effect on politics, said the parliament member who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He favors the accord.
"Many members of parliament are afraid to announce their position" on the U.S.-security agreement, he said in an interview at a heavily guarded mansion in Baghdad. "They feel they may face revenge from the Iranian side, like assassinations."
Aside from Iran, there are other reasons for opposition to the accord. Some members of parliament are suspicious of a deal that has been hammered out behind closed doors. In Washington, Democrats in Congress also complain they have been kept in the dark, and objected to the Bush administration's contention that the accord does not need Senate approval.
The agreement gives Iraq greater control over military operations, and mandates that U.S. forces pull out of Iraqi cities by July 2009 and leave the country at the end of 2011, unless Iraq requests an extension.
It also lets Iraqi courts, with U.S. acquiescence, try American soldiers who commit serious crimes when they are off-duty and outside their bases.
Staff writers Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus in Washington contributed to this report.
