Middle East Digest: February 5, 2008

Bureau of Public Affairs
February 5, 2008

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The Middle East Digest provides text and audio from the Daily Press Briefing. For the full briefings, please visit http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/

From the Daily Briefing of February 5, 2008:

MR. MCCORMACK: Good afternoon, everybody. Nothing to start off with, so we can get right to your questions – whoever has the hottest lead. Alright.

QUESTION: On Iraq, the Iraqi cabinet today approved a draft bill that would subject American – or subject foreign security contractors – I’m sorry for the late notice about this – and, you know, this morning the Iraqi Ambassador to the United States reiterated his position, their position, that they want such security contractors not merely to be held accountable but to be held accountable specifically under Iraqi law. And this is one of the main topics they’re going to raise in this strategic dialogue about the future U.S.-Iraqi relationship.

So what is your view both on the movement of this – continued movement of this law in Iraq? Do you believe that it would actually – would you, if it were passed by the parliament ultimately, would you regard it as indeed stripping your contractors of immunity? And more broadly, what is your position on the question of how contractors should be – American contractors should be handled so they’re not outside of a legal framework – any legal framework?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, right. This is a topic much discussed with the sovereign Iraqi Government. And where we want to arrive is at a place where both sides are comfortable in that everybody operating in Iraq follows the laws, is accountable under the law, and is able to operate in such a way that we’re able to do our jobs. We need contractors to do our jobs in Iraq under the current circumstances. There may come a day in the future where we don’t need the kind of security contractor assistance that we do need right now. That’s our goal, and we will get there eventually.

In the meantime, however, we need to make sure that those who violate the laws or are found to have broken regulations are held to account. I would expect if the Iraqis indicate that they want to bring this up during these negotiations we’re going to be having with Ambassador Crocker on the lead, it’ll be a much-discussed topic and, of course, we’re going to engage the Iraqi Government in a serious discussion on the topic. I can’t tell you what the outcome will be. I’m not going to try to predict that.

In terms of the legislation, I’ll have to take a look at it. I haven’t had an opportunity to look at it. Iraq is a sovereign country. It’s going to pass laws. We’re going to take a look at how those laws might affect it – might affect us once they are passed. I haven’t had a chance to look at this one, and I’m not – I haven’t had a chance to consult with our people.

There is a multistage process for the Iraqis to pass laws. Typically, a law will – it could be generated by the Presidency Council, then to go to the Council of Representatives and go through several readings and then back to the Presidency Council, and finally to be published in the national register, at which point the law will take effect. I can’t tell you exactly where in that process this particular piece of draft legislation is, but we will take a close look at it. And I’m sure that this topic of contractors, how they operate in Iraq, and how they are held to account if there is a violation of laws, will be an important topic in the months, weeks and even years ahead.

QUESTION: Can you address what in some ways, though, is the fundamental point that the Iraqi Ambassador was making, which is, they want them held accountable under Iraqi law? Is that – you just talked about accountable under law. Is that acceptable to you?

MR. MCCORMACK: Again, I’m not going to – I’m not going to try to prejudge where a discussion might come. You have a status quo situation and I think the attempts of the Iraqi parliament and the Iraqi Government to deal with it within the confines of their law is a recognition on their part that they want to change the status quo. And very clearly, they have expressed that desire. We’ll see how that manifests itself and in which ways – in the passage of U.S. laws, through agreements, the passage of Iraqi laws. We’ll see.

But it’s a serious topic. We take it seriously, both the Iraqi concerns and our need at this point to use security contractors in Iraq in order to do our jobs, which ultimately is helpful to the Iraqi people and the Iraqi Government in helping them build up the kinds of institutions that they’re going to need for a long-term, peaceful, stable democracy.