The NEW Iraq War

With all the other crap that has been going with Iraq, here's a story that's only now starting to make headlines: The United nations authorization under which the U.S has been operating in Iraq expires at the end of this year. And since the U.N. is unlikely to renew the current authorization, that means a new accord between Iraq and the U.s. will have to be reached in the coming months.

And therein lies the rub.

For the Americans, the difficulty is that any new agreement reached now will also effectively tie the hands of the new President that will be taking office next January 20. For the Iraqis, the debate goes to the very center of their future independence and sovereignty. And for the rest of the Arab world, the question centers on how much influence the meddlesome Iranians will have in Iraq.

The big question for Iraqis is how many permanent American bases to allow. They want fewer and the U.S. wants more. The U.S. also wants immunity from Iraqi laws for American soldiers and contractors. So far the two sides remain far apart on the issue, and at times negotiations have come close to breaking down entirely.

Even if negotiators are able to reach an agreement, it would still be subject to approval by the Iraqi Parliament. The U.S. Congress would also want to debate the matter, though the Bush administration is likely to argue that congressional approval is unnecessary. That would set up a major political battle in Washington even as politicians campaigning for the November elections.

And what happens if no new agreement is reached by the end of the year? Well, there are those who argue that the Iraq war would then become illegal on January 1.