Iraqi Constitution Requires Parliament to Approve Long-Term U.S. Presence
By Spencer Ackerman - Nov 27, 2007 -
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004783.phpYesterday, General Douglas Lute, a top Iraq adviser to President Bush, said that the administration didn't require Senate ratification for its forthcoming long-term security guarantee to the Iraqis. It's unclear whether that's true, and I'll tell you more as soon as I know it. But even if it is, the Iraqi constitution stipulates that Iraq's parliament has to ratify any such agreement. And the Iraqi parliament is a lot more hostile to the idea of hosting U.S. troops indefinitely than the U.S. Senate is.
Take a look at Article 58, Section 4 of the Iraqi constitution (
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9719734/page/2/). It stipulates that the Iraqi parliament shall ratify "international treaties and agreements by a two-thirds majority." Whether or not President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki can finagle the deal so that it's not a treaty -- as Lute suggested yesterday -- it most certainly is an "agreement."
And it's hard to see the votes for a two-thirds parliamentary majority. ..............