RAED JARRAR
Currently in Washington, D.C., Jarrar, who was born and raised in Iraq, is Iraq consultant for the American Friends Service Committee. He will be testifying at a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, titled: “The Extension of the United Nations Mandate for Iraq: Is the Iraqi Parliament Being Ignored?”
Jarrar said today: “The UN mandate for the occupation forces in Iraq is proceeding for another year without any conditions. Many Iraqis had hoped that there would at least be some conditions that will end the presence of foreign troops and military contractors. This continued mandate is based on an unconstitutional request submitted by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to the UN without parliamentary approval.”
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JAMES PAUL
Paul is executive director of Global Policy Forum, which monitors the United Nations. He said today: “This week the UN Security Council is expected to pass a resolution giving its approval for another year of occupation. A majority of the Iraqi parliament earlier this year gave a letter to Ashraf Qazi, the top UN official in Iraq, insisting on a timetable for withdrawal of occupation forces and pointing out the unconstitutional nature of al-Maliki’s request. Scandalously, that letter was never delivered to the Security Council. Then, in June, the parliament passed a law saying the mandate cannot be renewed without parliamentary ratification. A report by the UN Secretary General falsely claimed that the law was never passed.
“There’s concern in many delegations at the UN about what is going on, but members of the Security Council are under instructions from their governments to lay low and pass the U.S. resolution. It shows the despotic power of the U.S. government to force everyone to knuckle under, no matter how much the law is violated.”
See the backgrounder: “Should the Security Council Renew the MNF Mandate for 2008?”
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167.
