In an unprecedented move, George Bush is moving ahead with a plan to provide security forces to Iraq without Congressional approval, as reports Charlie Savage in today's Boston Globe.
In November, General Douglas Lute deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan, floated a plan that he claimed was not really a formal treaty, therefore there was no need to obtain Congressional approval. But now, people are taking a closer look.
President Bush's plan to forge a long-term agreement with the Iraqi government that could commit the US military to defending Iraq's security would be the first time such a sweeping mutual defense compact has been enacted without congressional approval, according to legal specialists.
Savage reports that after World War II similar agreements were reached by Truman and Eisenhower who worked with Senate approval. And in 1986, Ronald Reagan had the approval of Congress to protect the Marshall Islands and Micronesia if they were attacked. But Bush and Maliki have already reached some kind of deal that includes U.S. security forces and commitments to combat "outlaw groups" -- a deal that could tie the hands of the next administration, and line the pockets of this administration for time immemorial.
Yes, buried deep in the agreement is, once again, a sellout of the American people. What is unprecedented is not only the disregard for the Constitution but the level of greed and corruption that would have been hard to imagine, had we not seen the depths to which this administraiton can sink, as this agreement reportedly includes...
...promises of debt forgiveness, economic and technical aid, facilitating "especially American investments" in Iraq - and the security commitments, according to Bush and Maliki's joint declaration last November.
Wonder what those "especially American investments" are and who they protect? Big oil? Military contractors? One thing is for sure, it's not you and me, but we -- and our children, and our children's children -- will be paying for it!
Regrading this latest move, Hillary Clinton says it's time to rein the president in. Let's see if she does anything about it.