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DON LEMON:
All right. Here's a question that no one can seem to
answer lately, how long will the U.S. be in Iraq? If
anyone can answer that, I'm sure that was -- would be
the million dollar question. Assuming it is quite a
while longer, what will the mission be? Who will call
the shots? Talk about loaded questions there.
Right now, U.S. forces operate under a U.N. mandate,
but Washington and Baghdad are about to open talks in
a long-term military relationship which may, or may
not, amount to a treaty. The details are
controversial and complicated and the terminology, of
course, certainly matters. CNN's Arwa Damon joins us
now from Iraq, from the capital there. She's been
covering this story since the very beginning. And
she's going to walk us through this.
What do you know, Arwa?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, let's go
back a bit. As you just mentioned there, the U.N.
treaty under which U.S. forces operate here that
pretty much gives them carte blanche to do whatever
they want, does expire in December of 2008. Well
before that takes place, by the end of July, both
U.S. and Iraqi officials are hoping to have a
bilateral agreement in place that will define
America's role in Iraq moving forward.
Now, there have been allegations from individuals who
oppose President Bush's current plan here in Iraq,
that this will only further bog down U.S. troops,
that it will lead, perhaps, to some permanent bases.
But Iraqi officials here are assuring us that it
will, in fact, be quite the opposite.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI AL-DABBAGH, IRAQI GOVT. SPOKESMAN: There will be
a major drop in the number of the presence of the
Americans troops here. It will reach to the actual
number which is need for training and equipping and
supporting also -- supporting for Iraqi national
security forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON: Quite simply, the Iraqi security forces, at
this point in time, are not capable of securing Iraq
on their own. They lack the military power, they lack
the air power to try to continue to be able to
maintain on their own the security gains that the
U.S. military has made thus far. Also falling into
this bilateral agreement will be some economic
efforts. But again, the terminology of it is still
just in the beginning stages of being debated -- Don.
LEMON: All right. So Arwa, talk to us about some of
the central issues that both sides in this will be
focusing on.
DAMON: Well, Don, it is going to be issues such as
the authority, the freedom with which the U.S.
military has to conduct combat operations. Do they
need to consult the Iraqi government every single
time they're sending a patrol out? It will be issues
such as detainees. Will U.S. forces continue to have
the right to detain individuals based on
intelligence?
Some of it will just be legal language. It will also
deal with hot-button issues like contractor immunity.
And, as we were talking about, it will also deal with
some economic issues. There will be economic
incentives. What we are hearing from both sides is
that there really is this push to have this agreement
set into place. There are concerns on the U.S.
military side that, because of the political
campaigning, the political speak we are hearing back
in the United States, there might be a push for a
premature U.S. withdrawal.
That greatly concerns Iraqi leaders here who are
fully aware that should U.S. forces withdraw
prematurely, it could lead to al Qaeda being able to
regroup, restrike once again. It could re-ignite
sectarian violence. And Iraqi security forces, quite
frankly, could crumble. So this is a very vital and
crucial agreement, one that not only the Iraqi
government, but senior U.S. military leadership here
is trying to highlight as well.
LEMON: We'll be paying close attention to it. Arwa
Damon in Baghdad. Thank you, Arwa.