Asharq al-Awsat reported today that Iraq wants U.S. forces in its territory to be placed under the Iraqi government's control as part of Baghdad's ongoing security negotiations with the United States, according to Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel-Mahdi. Iraq wants to strip U.S. forces of their sovereign rights and effectively unlimited powers in Iraq and make them susceptible to criminal prosecution if they commit crimes, Abdel-Mahdi said.
Vice President Abdel-Mahdi is the second Iraqi official to escalate demands for increased control over foreign troops. On Wednesday, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Khald Al-Attiya told Press TV the Parliament rejects a Baghdad-Washington security pact, should it grant immunity to the US troops.
If the news reports are accurate, some Iraqis would seem to be suggesting terms that they know will be rejected by the US. The Soviets often engaged in this practice regularly when they wanted an excuse to abandon a negotiation or when they wanted a better offer.