Monday, Baghdad, October 13, 2008 (excerpts) — The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said Sunday that American intelligence reports suggest Iran has attempted to bribe Iraqi lawmakers in an effort to derail a bilateral agreement that would allow U.S. troops to remain in Iraq after the end of this year.
Gen. Ray Odierno said in an interview that Iran, a Shiite Islamic nation eyed warily by the United States and Sunni Arab countries, is working publicly and covertly to undermine the status-of-forces agreement as officials from Iraq and the United States report nearing a deal that must be ratified by Iraq’s parliament.
“Clearly, this is one they’re having a full court press on to try to ensure there’s never any bilateral agreement between the United States and Iraq,” Odierno said. “We know that there are many relationships with people here for many years going back to when Saddam was in charge, and I think they’re utilizing those contacts to attempt to influence the outcome of the potential vote in the council of representatives.”
The U.N. resolution that sanctions the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq expires Dec. 31. Failure to reach a deal could hasten the withdrawal of U.S. troops and allow Iran to expand its influence in Iraq, a predominantly Shiite, oil-rich nation at the center of the Middle East.
Odierno said Iran’s alleged efforts to derail the agreement could backfire.
“I truly believe that Iraqis are nationalists,” he said. “They want to choose on their own what’s best for their country, and they don’t want somebody else to decide what’s in their best interest.”
Odierno has periodically voiced concern about Iranian actions and intentions in Iraq. In January 2007, he said Iran had provided insurgents with rockets and armor-piercing rocket-propelled grenades, an allegation that was challenged but not definitely proven or disproven. He told the New York Times in August 2007 that Iran was “surging support” to Shiite militias, in part to influence a congressional debate on whether to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. And he told Pentagon reporters in March that Iran continued to support insurgents, calling it “a long-term threat” and “what I worry about most.”