Soverignty

Sovereignty? Wuh?

AMMAN, Jordan - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says talks with the United States on a longterm security agreement have reached a "dead end." Al-Maliki says the talks slumped because each side refused the other's demands.

He says the initial framework agreed upon was to have been an accord "between two completely sovereign states." But he says the U.S. proposals "do not take into consideration Iraq's sovereignty."

Furthermore, we retain the right to determine what is an "act of aggression" against Iraq, so we can have a Congress-free path to war with Iran:

Other conditions sought by the U.S. include control over Iraqi airspace up to 30,000 feet and immunity from prosecution for U.S. troops and private military contractors. The agreement would run indefinitely but be subject to cancellation upon two years of notice from either side, lawmakers said.

"It would impair Iraqi sovereignty," said Ali al-Adeeb, a leading member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party. "The Americans insist so far that it is they who define what is an aggression on Iraq and what is democracy inside Iraq ... if we come under aggression we should define it, and we ask for help," al-Adeeb said.

Our level of respect for Iraqi sovereignty has been an open question. I guess we have a final answer.