The United States seeks to exploit the loopholes of a bilateral security pact it struck with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in 2008 in order to extend its military presence in the war-torn country.
“There is a giant loophole in the treaty that Bush and Maliki put together for any troop that is not employed through the Department of Defense”, David Swanson, co-founder of War is a Crime.org, told Press TV’s U.S. Desk on Sunday.
“So for example a gang of thousands of mercenaries employed through the U.S. State Department under the guise of protecting their so-called embassy in Baghdad would be in perfect compliance with the treaty”, he added.
According to American news reports, Iraq will ask for future defense contracts to include provisions for training, bypassing the Iraqi MPs who have been put in charge of deciding whether U.S. soldiers should remain in their country past the withdrawaldeadline of December 31.
Swanson, the author of “War Is A Lie” said that selling U.S. weaponry to Iraq indicates once again that“what drives U.S. policy here is, in large part, profits for U.S. military and weapons companies”.
HJ/KA/DB