Subject: FW: US-Iraq SOFA
From: "cosjbb" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Cc: "Lute, Douglas E." <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:58:01 -0500

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. "