US circulates UN resolution to extend Iraq force a year News
US circulates UN resolution to extend Iraq force a year

[JURIST] The US has circulated a draft UN Security Council [official website] resolution that would extend the UN mandate of the 180,000-strong multinational force [official website] currently in Iraq [JURIST news archive] for another year. The US-led force was originally authorized [JURIST report] in May 2004 under UN Security Council Resolution 1546 [UN summary]. The latest draft, which the US proposed on Wednesday, is expected to draw opposition from Russia [JURIST news archive] and others on the Security Council, and it represents a departure from previous mandates, which have required renewal every six months. The current UN mandate [JURIST report] expires following parliamentary elections on Dec. 15, but it would be extended under the US draft resolution to Dec. 31, 2006. Review of the troops' presence would be allowed after eight months, however, and Iraq could request its termination. Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari [BBC profile] urged the Security Council to approve the extension in a letter earlier this week, arguing that Iraqi security forces were not yet ready to take over responsibility for maintaining security in the country. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Ku Klux Klan founded

The US hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan was founded on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a reaction to reconstruction efforts following the Union victory in the American Civil War. The group would later become notorious for its attacks on Black Americans, being targeted by the Enforcement Act of 1871, which imposed civil and criminal liability for deprivation of constitutional rights. Read the Enforcement Act of 1871.  

Hamid Karzai born

On December 24, 1957, Hamid Karzai was born in Karz, Afghanistan. He would go on to become in 2004 his country's first elected president after the end of Taliban rule in 2001.