FW: US-Iraq SOFA

From:cosjbb@who.eop.gov To: john.podesta@gmail.com CC: Douglas_E._Lute@nsc.eop.gov Date: 2008-11-11 14:58 Subject: FW: US-Iraq SOFA

John: thanks for your time today. As discussed, attached below is a message from LtGen Doug Lute regarding the Iraq SOFA. I understand that Steve Hadley has been in touch w/ Dennis McDonough to convey the same info and underscore the offer of a comprehensive briefing for your team on the SOFA. Best, Josh _____ Douglas E. Lute Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan Phone (Unclas/STE): (202) 456-5417 The U.S.-Iraq SOFA is reaching the endgame. The U.S. negotiators have provided the Iraqis with a text we consider final, accompanied by a letter from President Bush urging the Prime Minister to lobby Iraqi officials to approve the document and send it to the Council of Representatives for approval. Intensive lobbying by Ambassador Crocker and our negotiators is currently taking place in Baghdad. We believe we have negotiated an agreement that provides President-Elect Obama the authorities and protections he needs to exercise the full perogatives as Commander in Chief. We would like to offer, at your earliest convenience, a full briefing to you and your staff on the details of the SOFA. Ambassador Crocker and General Odierno would appreciate the opportunity to brief you personally, via SVTC, at a time that's amenable. Representatives from both Mr. Obama's and Mr. Biden's Senate offices are scheduled to receive a briefing on the text on Wednesday the 12th, and the text has and will continue to be available to those named staff in the Senate's secure facility. The Iraqis are keenly interested in understanding President-Elect Obama's position on the SOFA. Indeed, a number of senior Iraqi officials - including a number of Prime Minister's most senior advisors -- are claiming that Mr. Obama will not support a SOFA signed by President Bush and interpreting the few messages publicly available as a pretext to reject the agreement on the table. After you have had time to review the SOFA text, we ask that the Obama transition team express support for the SOFA, lest the Iraqis use previous positions or the absence of comment to scuttle the deal. By way of suggestion, we offer the following as possible reassurance to the Iraqis, perhaps in letters to Talibani and Maliki: "We believe that any Status of Forces Agreement, or Strategic Framework Agreement, should include commitments by the U.S. to begin withdrawing its troops and to foreswear permanent bases. Any such agreements must provide strong protections and authorities for our troops. We will respect the agreement as negotiated and not insist it be ratified by the US Congress. We hope it can be concluded as soon as possible. "