Iraq ratifies SOFA -- with a wrinkle

BAGHDAD, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Iraq's Parliament Thursday ratified the bilateral agreement between Baghdad and Washington that allows U.S. troops to remain in the country for another three years, but not without last-minute bickering and deal-making among lawmakers.

The Status of Forces Agreement, signed Nov. 16 by US. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, passed after the coalition government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed to demands by a Sunni bloc of parliamentarians to put the measure to a national referendum in July.

The exact vote tally wasn't immediately available, but the speaker of Parliament, Mahmoud Mashhadani, said votes in favor were overwhelming.

The SOFA, as it is called, needed only a simple majority for ratification, but Maliki needed a large margin of yea votes for it to have legitimacy with the country's majority Shiite population, whose Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani indicated his acceptance of the accord was dependent on a large margin in its passing.

Now signed by a three-man Presidency Council, the agreement goes into effect on Jan. 1.

Major provisions include:

-- A Dec. 31, 2011, date-definite for all U.S. military forces to withdraw from Iraq. If a national referendum in July rejects the accord the United States would still have 12 months from that date to conduct operations before it leaves the country or another arrangement is reached. Under the agreement either side can abrogate it with 12 months advance notice.

-- A June 30, 2009, date for U.S. troop withdrawal from all bases within Iraq's cities, towns and villages.

-- A pledge by the United States not to use Iraqi territory for attacking Iran, Syria and other countries in the region.

-- A requirement that U.S. forces obtain warrants from Iraqi courts before detaining targeted terrorist suspects or searching homes for suspects or weapons caches except in combat situations.

-- A requirement that all U.S. military operations receive approval from a special Iraqi-U.S. military panel before they can be carried out.

U.S. diplomats say that with ratification new government-to-government and military-to-military talks will begin on how to actually implement SOFA provisions.

Two provisions will have an immediate effect on how the American military does business in Iraq -- warrant-based arrests and searches, and prior operation approval. U.S. military officials say some units of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, in charge of Eastern Baghdad, plan to implement both of them as early as next Monday and have been holding talks with their Iraqi counterparts about how to do so despite the gray areas that remain until higher-level implementation discussions are completed.

"I really don't know how it is going to work out," said Maj. Geoff Greene, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, which operates in East Baghdad. "It (warrant-based targeting) may be a good thing, but we just don't know yet. … But as always: If my chain of command says this is how we're going to do it, that's how we are going to do it and I support it."

Greene said his battalion has already completed information packets for seven to nine terrorist suspects and is working on packets for 11 others. Those packets would be sent to brigade level. Legal officers would then liaise with Iraqi army personnel and obtain warrants from an Iraqi court.

"But we still don't know about situations of probable cause," Greene said. "And we have 200 people on our lists. What do we do about them? Do we get warrants in advance on all of them?"

Green also said another gray area of concern is what happens if troops discover a wanted suspect while checking vehicles at temporary checkpoints or while on foot patrols. Can they detain the suspect until a warrant is issued, or do they let the person go?

Some soldiers spoken to with the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment voiced concern over possible leaks of information that could compromise operations. Others wondered about a possible loss of ability to move quickly against wanted individuals when tips to their whereabouts are received.

"It's one of the concerns we have," an officer who requested anonymity said. "We get information on a bad guy and it may be good for only an hour. We don't have time to go to a judge and get a warrant" if one isn't already in hand.

Warrant-based targeting is not new for U.S. troops, however. Soldiers operating in Muqdadiya in Diyala province earlier this year were conducting warrant-based search-and-detain operations with Iraqi Police and National Police units. The police had gotten the warrants for terrorist suspects from the local court.

The issuing of those warrants involved complainants and witnesses signing court affidavits and appearing before a judge. By doing so, they identified themselves and thus risked retribution from terror suspects and their allies.

Despite that danger, the court in Muqdadiya had some 700 warrants out for alleged extremists, Iraqi Police and U.S. forces in Muqdadiyah said.

The second area of concern is prior Iraqi Security Force approval for operations, such as daily patrols and search-and-knock missions. Lt. Col. Michael Pappal, commander of 1-68, however, said that on the battalion level he didn't see a problem with it. He is in discussions with his Iraqi Security Force counterparts to permanently embed several Iraqi soldiers or National Policemen with his forces to accompany all missions and thus give them the Iraqi government imprimatur that will be needed. Also, he said, many of his battalion's missions -- other than daily routine patrols -- are conducted with ISF participation.

"Last spring U.S. forces were in the lead on larger ops," he said. "Now the Iraqi Security Forces lead."

An example of that came early Wednesday. Two platoons from 1-68, together with 11 units of Iraqi National Police and Iraqi army personnel, cordoned off mahalla 315, a 2-square-kilometer neighborhood in the Shaab/Beida area of East Baghdad. The planning was mainly done by the Iraqis, and Iraqis were the ones who set up most perimeter security and entered homes looking for illegal weapons and seeking information on a suspected al-Qaida terrorist in the area. U.S. forces were merely backup if needed and also had on hand several bomb-sniffing dogs.

The Status of Forces Agreement ratified Thursday was a product of eight to nine months of contentious negotiations between Iraq and the United States. It provides a legal framework for U.S. military operations in the country and replaces a U.N. mandate for them that expires at the end of the year.

Maliki has touted the pact as a symbol of Iraq regaining sovereignty, but it is still opposed by anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr, who has threatened his militia will battle U.S. troops if they remain in the country.

The Sunni demand for a national referendum was one of several made in an apparent effort to gain increased influence in the Shiite-Kurd dominated government, which faces provincial and national elections next year.