Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.
It's rarely charged -- there have been less than forty federal prosecutions of the crime since the founding of our nation; only one such charge seven years into the War on Terror. It's a word not easily spoken in the collegial halls Washington but it's been whispered lately in conjunction with the name of the Democratic presidential nominee.
On September 16, 2008, The New York Post published an opinion piece by Amir Taheri, a conservative, Iranian-born journalist and author. He has been one of the few Middle Eastern voices who has spoken out vociferously against Islamic-extremist terrorism and the oppressive regimes that exist in nations like his native Iran. As you can imagine, he's a very popular guy...
Taheri's September 16 article was titled simply, "Senator Barack Obama Tried to Stall GI's Iraq Withdrawl." Though his piece is largely opinion and features a number of loose quotations by unspecified sources, it does feature a previously unheard, directly quoted statement from Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
In reference to the agreement surrounding the United States presence in Iraq Zebari stated that, "[Obama] asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington."
In a follow-up to his article, Taheri quotes an interview Obama gave to NBC following his meeting with Zebari. NBC reported that, "Obama also told Zebari, he said, that Congress should be involved in any negotiations regarding a Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq. He suggested it may be better to wait until the next administration to negotiate such an agreement."
The bottom line: the Iraqi equivalent of the United States Secretary of State and a United States media-outlet both confirm that Senator Barack Obama, without the support or consent of the current, elected administration, engaged in negotiations with a formal representative of a foreign government during a time of war regarding the strategic deployment of US military personnel. In his "negotiations," he sought to postpone the renewal of a key diplomatic agreement between the Iraqi and American governments and, in doing so, forestall a potential draw-down of American troops from combat.
Now the waters here get a bit muddy, if you've followed me this far, you've got the meat of the matter but if you're still not convinced or get geeked-out about this stuff like I do, try to follow me on this one.
On September 16, 2008, The New York Post published an opinion piece by Amir Taheri, a conservative, Iranian-born journalist and author. He has been one of the few Middle Eastern voices who has spoken out vociferously against Islamic-extremist terrorism and the oppressive regimes that exist in nations like his native Iran. As you can imagine, he's a very popular guy...
Taheri's September 16 article was titled simply, "Senator Barack Obama Tried to Stall GI's Iraq Withdrawl." Though his piece is largely opinion and features a number of loose quotations by unspecified sources, it does feature a previously unheard, directly quoted statement from Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
In reference to the agreement surrounding the United States presence in Iraq Zebari stated that, "[Obama] asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington."
In a follow-up to his article, Taheri quotes an interview Obama gave to NBC following his meeting with Zebari. NBC reported that, "Obama also told Zebari, he said, that Congress should be involved in any negotiations regarding a Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq. He suggested it may be better to wait until the next administration to negotiate such an agreement."
The bottom line: the Iraqi equivalent of the United States Secretary of State and a United States media-outlet both confirm that Senator Barack Obama, without the support or consent of the current, elected administration, engaged in negotiations with a formal representative of a foreign government during a time of war regarding the strategic deployment of US military personnel. In his "negotiations," he sought to postpone the renewal of a key diplomatic agreement between the Iraqi and American governments and, in doing so, forestall a potential draw-down of American troops from combat.
Now the waters here get a bit muddy, if you've followed me this far, you've got the meat of the matter but if you're still not convinced or get geeked-out about this stuff like I do, try to follow me on this one.
You don't have to read this unless you really want the guts of just how bad this really is.
The troop presence in Iraq is legally justified by two statutes -- the Status of Forces Agreement (SoFA), an agreement reached between the Iraqi and American administrations regarding the governance of US troops on Iraqi soil and the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) which provides the legal precedent for the US presence in Iraq. These agreements are founded on the UN mandate agreeing upon the legality of the continued presence of US troops in Iraq.
Though the two agreements are negotiated separately they are inextricably linked to one another. The troops have no legal precedent to be in Iraq without the Iraqi approved SFA and with the SFA intact, though they have the legal precedent to be in the country without the SoFA they have no legal precedent to do anything.
The Obama camp has claimed, in response to the article, that he was asking for a delay in renewing the SFA - thus erasing the Iraqi-American accord that defines the very legality of our troops' presence in a sovereign nation.
Why would he want this? Simple.
The SFA governs, in part, the number of troops we have on the ground. Any troop draw down would have to be mutually agreed upon by the Iraqi and American governments and reflected in the SFA. If President Bush wishes to decrease the number of troops in Iraq, as he stated he plans to just last week, such a draw-down would require a negotiated alteration of the SFA.
Now Obama's stated position is that he wants US troops out of Iraq. The Bush Administration agrees that its time to start doing just that.
But just as they begin the process of negotiating the agreement that would let them do just that Obama tries to pull the rug out from underneath the whole process by meeting with the Iraqi Foreign Minister and suggesting that he not agree to a change in the SFA.
I won't comment politically on this one, you folks are smart enough to draw your own conclusions... Please feel free to share them in the comments section if you'd like.
Selected Sources:
OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS' IRAQ WITHDRAWAL - Taheri, NY Post 9/16/08
OBAMA OBJECTS - Taheri, NY Post 9/17/08
OBAMA'S TALK WITH IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER - Jones, MSNBC 6/16/08
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