BAGHDAD, Iraq — Leaders in the Iraqi Parliament said Monday that they were taking steps to examine the U.S. military presence in Iraq with an eye toward possibly restricting the force’s activities, in a continuing backlash over an American raid that Iraqi officials say killed 13 civilians.
Before the end of the year, the United Nations is expected to take up its annual reauthorization of a U.N. Security Council resolution that allows the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq. Iraqi leaders have charged that the U.S. military used too much force in responding to attacks, leading to the deaths of civilians, and that the Americans have not coordinated enough with Iraqi forces.
The U.S. military maintained it killed 49 “criminals” in the raid Sunday on Sadr City, a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in the capital, and was unaware of any civilian casualties. But journalists for Western news organizations, including the Los Angeles Times, saw the corpses of two children at the Imam Ali hospital who were killed in the attack and interviewed other children who were wounded.
Leaders in Parliament are to meet Oct. 31 to consider forming a committee, to be made up of representatives from various parties, to make recommendations on limitations Iraq should seek in the United Nations resolution. Factions are squaring off, with some Sunni Arab moderates saying that the continued U.S. presence as critical to Iraq’s future and Shiite leaders angry over the U.S. incursions into their neighborhoods seeking to curtail the American presence.
It is not clear what recommendations the committee ultimately might make, but members of parliament speculated Monday that they could include limiting the U.S. presence to certain areas in Iraq or to express desire for a mission statement that the primary goal of American troops should be to train Iraqi forces, while establishing a timeline for U.S. withdrawal.
A recommendation to oppose the U.N. reauthorization entirely appears to be unlikely.
“We think the issue is about establishing and developing Iraqi security forces capable of confronting the challenges,” said Salim Abdullah Jabouri, a member of parliament. “It’s not right to speak about not having the presence of the U.S. forces, taking into consideration the chaos and security instability.”
Any changes to the U.N. military authorization would have to be approved by the 15-member Security Council, which will vote on the measure after hearing from military leaders and the Iraqi government. While Iraq’s position would carry great weight in the deliberations, said Farhan Haq, a spokesman for the U.N. on Iraq issues, the U.S. is one of five members that has veto power and could dash any changes it finds unpalatable.
In Washington, a panel recommended to the State Department that the U.S. government impose unified control over private security guards working for the U.S. in Iraq, an idea already floated by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the Associated Press reported Monday.
The review panel found poor communication between diplomats and military officials and too little oversight of contractors such as Blackwater USA, two people familiar with the report’s finding ssaid.
The State Department risks another incident like the Sept. 16 Blackwater shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians unless it quickly installs closer management of the private army guarding diplomats in Iraq, the independent panel privately told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
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