Messyanic

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
--Sunshine On My Shoulders, John Denver

Honesty is such a lonely word
Everyone is so untrue
--Honesty, Billy Joel

Why can't you say, if you know, then why can't you say?
You've got too much deceit, deceit kills the light,
Light needs to shine, I said light needs to shine
--Can't Keep it In, Cat Stevens

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Florida's Sunshine Law establishes a basic right of access to local and state meetings of boards, commissions and other governing bodies and most records. Every person has the constitutional right to inspect or copy any public record through the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), with some exemptions.

As Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's website says, "Without this access there is little accountability, and accountability is vital for good government." This was designed to alleviate smoke-filled back rooms where good old boys would conduct their political sleight-of-hand.

In vulgar contrast with this transparency is the opacity of the recent Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the U.S. and the People's Republic of Iraq. The SOFA in its entirety is not available for public viewing. Ironically, it is available for viewing in Iraq, the country to whom we brought democracy.

"On the US side, negotiations on the pact have been cloaked in secrecy. The official English version of the final agreement was withheld -- from the public and from Congress -- throughout most of the past few weeks' negotiations. At a recent House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on the pact, testifiers had to use a translated version supplied by (Raed) Jarrar. Congressman Bill Delahunt, chairman of the subcommittee, criticized the administration's covert handling of the pact" (Despite Agreement, US Future in Iraq Unclear.)

Raed Jarrar, Iraq consultant to the American Friends Service Committee, offers a rough translation on his blog. The treaty is valid for the next six months until the Iraqi people vote on it in a national referendum.

The treaty was passed by a "very slim majority" (144 MPs instead of the constitutionally required two thirds majority 184 MPs). Is this treaty constitutionally sound?

"(T)the proceedings did not follow the guidelines prescribed by Iraq's Constitution. The pact vote was taken without first passing Iraq's 'law to ratify international treaties and agreements,' which would have governed how the SOFA was considered and voted on."

The simple majority bar in Parliament is a superannuated Saddam-era law. The pact would not have passed had Parliament's leaders followed current law, requiring a two-thirds majority. Maybe they are using the Malcolm X yardstick: by any means necessary.

The SOFA carries a proviso for a public referendum in July 2009. The Iraqi people will then vote on whether the pact should stay in place but even if they reject it, it will still remain valid until 2010 due to the one-year-warning clause.

Let us hope the Iraqi people vote for expulsion of U.S. troops and the end of the goat screw. Polls in Iraq indicate most Iraqi's favor a hastier withdrawal of U.S. troops than the 3-year transition provided by the current treaty.

It is no secret that "those in power realize that it is the US existence in Iraq that keeps them in power, and so they [were] keen on signing it as soon as possible regardless of its conflict with the interests of Iraq and its people" These U.S. flunkies see their heads on the platter, so it behooves them to keep the U.S. milling about, at least until they can secure their E & E plans, too.

The concept of democracy in Iraq is a joke, as it is fast becoming in the U.S. unless the Constitutional brakes are applied, hard and fast. Why is this SOFA not facing U.S. Congressional oversight and vote? Is the concept of democracy different in Iraq than in the U.S.?

Since the SOFA is not available in an official form for viewing, misinterpretations abound. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when asked whether the agreement's absolute 2011 deadline could be extended, said, "Well, clearly that's theoretically possible."

In this Over the Rainbow environment of the past eight years, why not? George Bush is the king of Post Modernity (without even knowing it.) Things are what we say they are. The downside of that is, things are the same for the other side, too.

Let's be realistic: Iraq is unstable on any given good day. The concept of a democratic Iraq is a sick joke being played upon the world, and the U.S. taxpayers in particular.

Truthout says the pact continues the expansion of executive power set out by George Bush:

"The agreement far overreaches the bounds of typical executive-only SOFA as it grants US troops the "authority to fight," and Congress is the branch vested with the power to declare war. Yet the Bush administration drafted and negotiated the pact with the Iraqi government without consulting Congress."

"The Bush administration has effectively expanded the scope of what a SOFA covers, and since there has been no formal objection from Congress, future presidents will now claim they have the same power to unilaterally negotiate far-reaching international agreements. . ."

Obama is not President-elect of Iraq. However, he will be the U.S. president and could unilaterally pull U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, disappearing them as magically as they appeared. After all, they are used to mirages in the desert. We will soon see if he rolls back the powers accorded to Bush's conception of the Unitary Executive.

This SOFA is a nasty piece of work being foisted upon the U.S. and Iraq. Its interpretation and purpose is dubious, and appears to be simply a tool to keep the U.S. in Iraq. Why is this important to U.S. security and welfare?

What will be accomplished by an extended U.S. presence in Iraq, and are we the taxpayers (through our elected legislative representatives) willing to continue spending billions into the trillions of dollars on a mirage blowing across the Iraqi desert?

Ranger cannot understand a Commander in Chief willing to continue the deaths and mutilations of our soldiers for a cause as elusive as a well-paying stateside job with health care benefits.