LIANE HANSEN, host:
The Iraq war is one of the most pressing issues the next president will have to deal with.
NPR senior analyst Daniel Schorr wonders whether the new administration will be bound by agreements made by the old one.
DANIEL SCHORR: It has become a staple of the presidential campaign for candidates to promise swift withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. The question arises whether the new president's hands can be tied by commitments made by the outgoing Bush administration.
The president has given no indication of how long he expects troops to stay in Iraq. But Defense Minister Abdul Qadir, on a recent visit here, told the New York Times that his country will not be able to take responsibility for its internal security until 2012, and will not be able to defend its borders until 2018.
American bases with a somewhat permanent look are going up all over Iraq. Negotiations may be starting soon for status of forces agreements, defining the rights and the responsibilities of American troops. Such agreements were signed with Germany and Japan after World War II. But these were occupation forces. These agreements typically make Americans immune from local law. And after recent incidents in which Iraqi civilians have been killed, there may be some resistance to releasing soldiers to be sent home for trial.
But an unresolved question is whether the president can make agreements not submitted through the Senate for ratification that commits future presidents. It seems clear that the Bush administration foresees an alliance with Iraq for many years to come. Whether that relationship is set down in a NATO-like agreement, which provides that an attack on one country will be considered as an attack on both - that raises some issues that have only begin to be faced.
The word from the Pentagon is that formal negotiations will start next month. And President Bush is reportedly eager to conclude binding agreements before he leaves office.
Down the road, one can foresee a debate on the constitutional issue of whether the outgoing president can make serious commitments of American power that future president will have to respect or maybe not?
This is Daniel Schorr.