Rep. Rohrabacher Statement on Baghdad Meeting with Iraqi Pri...

***PRESS STATEMENT***

Rep. Rohrabacher Statement on Baghdad Meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister, CODEL not officially expelled from Iraq

Istanbul, Turkey, Jun 11, 2011 — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) issued the following statement on his recent meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki while in Baghdad as part of an official Congressional delegation:

“We had a frank and spirited discussion about the Camp Ashraf massacre by Iraqi troops,” said Rohrabacher. “There was never any indication the Prime Minister was angered by having this discussion or the during the portion of the conversation about the current economic situation in the U.S., which lead to the suggestion of repayment by the Iraqis.

The meeting was originally scheduled for an hour but continued for an extra 40 minutes.

“No apologies are necessary for suggesting the massacre of unarmed civilians by Iraqi troops is something that needs to be investigated and I plan to do so as Chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee,” said Rohrabacher.

“Furthermore, I will not apologize for suggesting once Iraq becomes prosperous, it should consider repaying the United States for the hundreds of billions of dollars spent to liberate them from a tyrannical dictator and helping to establish a democratic government,” Rohrabacher continued. “There’s nothing wrong with suggesting that the people who have benefited from our benevolence should consider repaying us for what we have given them.”

In response to media reports the delegation had been expelled from Iraq , Mr. Rohrabacher said, “There was no change in our scheduling while we were in Iraq. Our itinerary remained exactly the same and we departed as scheduled.

“We were not officially told to leave the country before we left and were never told or warned not to come back.”

On May 26th, Rep. Rohrabacher announced his intention of conducting a hearing into the April 8th massacre at Camp Ashraf in eastern Iraq where 35 unarmed civilians were killed and scores more injured during an attack by Iraqi soldiers. Mr. Rohrabacher’s request for delegation access to the site was denied by the U.S. State Department and the Iraqi government.

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111TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. RES. 873
Establishing a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 27, 2009

Mr. ROHRABACHER (for himself and Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION

Establishing a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan
Region of Iraq.

Whereas 15 countries including leading European nations
have diplomatic and consulate representation in Erbil,
the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq;

Whereas the United States Department of State modified its
Travel Warning for Iraq this year to reflect the relative
safety and security of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq;

Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in
the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is consistent with current
United States policy to normalize bilateral United States-
Iraq relations at the diplomatic, commercial, cultural,
and educational levels as the United States Armed
Forces redeploys from Iraq;

Whereas greater United States Government civilian representation
throughout Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region,
will serve the United States interest during this period
of military transition across the country;

Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in
the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will increase travel between
the United States and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and
thus strengthen people-to-people exchanges between both
sides;

Whereas presently, United States citizens either living in or
visiting the Kurdistan Region must travel to the United
States Embassy in Baghdad, 200 miles away, to receive
consular services;

Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in
the Kurdistan Region will both be helpful in attracting
greater United States business and investment to the region
and ensuring that the region continues to serve as
a ‘‘gateway’’ to United States business success in other
parts of Iraq, as a number of United States Government
agencies have advocated;

Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in
the Kurdistan Region will demonstrate a United States
commitment to maintaining and building upon the success
and stability of this prosperous and democratic Iraqi
region;

Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in
the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will allow more government
and nongovernmental missions between the United States
and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a mutual interest;

Whereas the Kurds of Iraq have been willing partners with
the United States in the democratic transition in Iraq
since 2003 and the Kurdistan Region has served as a
model of Iraq’s democratization since Operation Iraqi
Freedom;

Whereas the United States and the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG) have been full partners in the battle
against terrorism and those who seek to undermine continued
progress in a pluralistic, democratic, and federal
Iraq;

Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in
the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will play a helpful role in
continuing to safeguard Iraq’s territorial integrity from
external aggression and support United States and Iraqi
diplomatic initiatives that seek to prevent outside interference
in Iraq’s affairs;

Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in
the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will also foster continued
dialogue at a strategic level between the United States
and the KRG; and

Whereas the establishment of a United States Consulate in
the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will positively contribute to
continued diplomatic initiatives between the KRG and
Turkey: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives calls on
2 the Department of State to establish a United States Consulate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

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Last edited on 09/23/2011 at 00:17 AM (UTC3 Assyria)
 
Iraq govt says U.S. Congress delegation "not welcome"
by Reuters. Jun 10, 2011.

BAGHDAD, June 10, 2011 (Reuters) — Iraq said on Friday a visiting U.S. Congress delegation was "not welcome" in the country, citing reports its leader called on Baghdad to pay compensation to Washington for years of war since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Iraqi officials said Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher told reporters during a visit on Friday that Baghdad should repay billions of dollars Washington had spent on the Iraq war.

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad could not be reached for comment and the congressman's comments could not be confirmed independently.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Rohrabacher's reported comments were "irresponsible".

"Those people are not welcome in Iraq. They are raising a controversial issue which influences the strategic relation between us and the United States," he said.

"They are asking for compensation for the war and we are not committed to pay anything to any of the people who participated in the invasion of Iraq," he told Reuters.

Dabbagh said Rohrabacher had not expressed this opinion when he met Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

He added he had called the U.S. embassy in Iraq when he learned of the congressman's comments at the news conference but was told by the embassy that Rohrabacher's statement represented his own opinion and not the official position of the United States.

The Iraqi government irritation at the U.S. congressman's comments came at a time when Iraqi leaders are debating whether to ask U.S. troops in Iraq to stay beyond the deadline for a withdrawal at the end of the year.

Dabbagh said a meeting headed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani could be held next week to discuss the sensitive issue of a continued U.S. military presence in the country beyond 2011, among other issues.

On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama's pick to be the new U.S. defence secretary, outgoing CIA chief Leon Panetta, said he expected Iraq to eventually ask Washington to keep U.S. troops in the country beyond the year-end.

U.S. forces in Iraq halted combat operations last year and the remaining 47,000 American troops are due to pull out by Dec. 31 under a 2008 bilateral security accord.

While overall violence has fallen sharply in Iraq since the peak of sectarian warfare in 2006-2007, Iraqi security forces continue to fight a weakened but still lethal insurgency. Bombings and other attacks occur daily.

The total of U.S. military casualties in Iraq since 2003 stands at 4,459, according to the icasualties.org website.

In the biggest single loss of life since 2009, five U.S. soldiers were killed in a rocket attack on a Baghdad base on Monday and another U.S. soldier was killed in southern Iraq on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.