U.S. warns of dramatic consequences if deal not signed

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned of “dramatic consequences” if Washington and Baghdad do not agree a security deal on U.S. forces in Iraq. “He said if there were no Status of Forces Agreement the US would have to “basically stop doing anything,” the BBC reported. Iraq’s cabinet is demanding changes to a draft deal already agreed with Washington that would allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq until 2011. Mr Gates said the US had “great reluctance” to renegotiate. “I don’t think you slam the door shut, but I would say it’s pretty far closed,” he said. “The consequences of not having Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) and of not having a renewed UN authorisation are pretty dramatic.” Failure to finalise the Sofa or renew a U.N. mandate would mean U.S. operations would have to be suspended. The U.N. mandate for US-led coalition forces expires at the end of the year. “What really needs to happen is for us to get this Sofa done. It’s a good agreement. It’s good for us. It’s good for them. It really protects Iraqi sovereignty,” Mr Gates said. The Sofa was presented last week after months of painstaking US-Iraq talks. But on Tuesday Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said the cabinet had “agreed that necessary amendments to the pact could make it nationally accepted”. He did not specify what changes would be required. Mr Gates, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, said: “We just have to let the Iraqi political process play out.” But he added: “Clearly the clock is ticking.” Mr Gates said a new UN mandate was not necessarily a “clean” option. “So that’s not a solution without peril itself,” he said. SH (S) 1