No, we're not just talking about the reports that 3,000 US troops entered Iraq this month from Kuwait (see last week's "Editorial: The superflous American media"). We're mainly talking about what gives them authority to do that, the Memorandum of Understanding For Defense Cooperation Between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Iraq and the Department of Defense of the United States of America which was signed December 6th.
The memorandum calls for joint-patrols. That was a bit hard for some to understand. Monday's "Iraq Snapshot" covered it and the response to that was a sort of mass denial leading C.I. to offer, "But for those idiots who can't quite grasp reality, my question would be where, if not in Iraq, would you expect these joint-exercises to take place? Paris? Are joint teams of US and Iraqi service members going to patrol the Champs Elysees?" The matter was addressed again in the Tuesday snapshot.
Hopefully, those who were shocked have gotten over their disbelief.
Barack always wanted US troops in Iraq. He made that clear when speaking to The New York Times in 2007. When the paper bungled their report on that, we grabbed the transcript of the interview and re-wrote it as "NYT: 'Barack Obama Will Keep Troops In Iraq'" to emphasize the main point.
Counter-terrorism operations was bandied about in that 2007 interview.
No surprise, the memorandum notes that they will be engaging in joint counter-terrorism operations.
There really are no surprises here but to dispense with a few lies that have been tossed around in the last days, this is not about State Department contractors. This is not an agreement with the US State Department. This agreement was signed by the US Defense Department.
This is about US service members. Did the White House not think things through?
They thought it through enough to plan for what to do in the case of US service members' deaths.
The only shocking thing about the memorandum is how it has been greeted with silence. Don't expect The Nation magazine or Democracy Now! to break from their 'important' whoring for Barack to tell you about the memorandum. But we've already included the link. The Pentagon published the memorandum.
And when you grasp how the alphabets (MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, etc.) refused to tell you about the memorandum, grasp that the Pentagon made no effort to keep this quiet. December 6th, they released the following:
Under the auspices of the Strategic
Framework Agreement, the Governments of the United States of America and
the Republic of Iraq reaffirmed their commitment to an enduring
strategic partnership during the second meeting of the Defense and
Security Joint Coordination Committee on December 5-6, 2012 in Baghdad.
The
meetings held at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense were co-chaired by Iraqi
Defense Minister Saadoun Al-Dlimi, the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense
for Policy James Miller, and the Acting Under Secretary of State for
Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller.
Defense
and Security Cooperation is one of the cooperation areas that were
agreed upon in the Strategic Framework Agreement signed in 2008 between
the United States Government and the Government of the Republic of Iraq
in order to strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest for the
two countries.
The
United States and Iraq discussed efforts to continue strengthening
their security cooperation, enhance Iraq's defense capabilities,
modernize Iraq's military forces, and facilitate both countries'
contributions to regional security. The two delegations explored
U.S.-Iraq training opportunities and Iraq's participation in regional
exercises.
The
United States and Iraq also discussed the strong and growing foreign
military sales program, a symbol of the long-term security partnership
envisioned by both countries. The United States stated its support for
Iraq's efforts to meet its defense and security needs.
Both
delegations reviewed regional security issues. They exchanged views on
the conflict in Syria and its effects on regional stability, with both
sides urging an end to the violence and support for a political
transition that would represent the will of the Syrian people. The two
sides agreed to continue consulting closely on regional security
matters.
The
capstone event was the exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding signed
by Defense Minister Saadoun Al-Dlimi and Secretary of Defense Leon
Panetta. This agreement represents the enduring strategic partnership
between the United States and Iraq, and provides mechanisms for
increased defense cooperation in areas including defense planning,
counterterrorism cooperation, and combined exercises.
Finally,
the United States and the Republic of Iraq committed to convene a third
recurring Defense and Security Cooperation Joint Coordination Committee
meeting in Washington, D.C., during 2013 to continue discussions on the
enduring security and military cooperation between the two countries.
View the Memorandum of Understanding at: http://www.defense.gov/releases/US-IraqMOUDefenseCooperation.pdf
The only thing wrong in the above is the link to view the memorandum:
http://www.defense.gov/news/US-IraqMOUDefenseCooperation.pdf
Use the link and realize that the White House got their way, a legal agreement to send more US troops back into Iraq. Also grasp that the press 'forgot' to inform you of this development.