US to impose 'colonial treaties' on Iraq

Juan Cole Comment:


The Bush administration wants a wide-ranging set of commitments from the Iraqi government that will exempt not only the US military but also civilian contractors from Iraqi law.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/world/middleeast/25military.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

In the colonial period such treaties were common, and exemptions were called 'capitulations.'

The immunity of US troops from Iranian law was one of the grievances Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini highlighted when he made the revolution against Iran's monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

http://www.juancole.com/