THE US, UN AND IRAQ V

Eventually, of course, everyone is corruptable and the irony is that there is no group more corrupt at the moment that the American people, quite apart from our leadership.

In the land of the potato, the Guiness and the Stone.
If you don't believe in Irish luck, then they'll blow up your home!
You see, they have themselves an army - they like killing freaks!
So if you are not shot and killed, they'll get to you next week!

Hooray! Hooray for the IRA!
Killing people indiscriminately!
Hooray! Hooray for the IRA!
I know if I crouch down, they won't kill me!

They're Irish and they're Catholic - they're Protestants as well!
So all other religions, well you can go to hell!
You see, they love killing each other for something to do!
So they don't need a good excuse for coming after you
Hooray! Hooray for the IRA!
Killing people indiscriminately!
Hooray! Hooray for the IRA!
I know I should shout loud enough, but they will all still give a stuff
And that is why they're coming after me!

Okay, Blatham, so what do we do about it? I mean in terms of finding a place for these discussions. You know I agree with you wholeheartedly, though I fault you for losing the Rough Beast thread. If you're tolerant of the mythomaniacs, they'll hug you. It's not a hug I want.

And that relates directly to Bush's thanksgiving visit to 600 soldiers in a hangar in Iraq. Would he have done this without cameras and reporters? Not a chance in hell. It was brilliant PR, and that is ALL it was. That 600 soldiers got a pick-me-up was irrelevant. The event was not about them at all.

Bush buoys troops but Iraq plan frays

By Steve Holland, Alissa Rubin
Baghdad
November 29, 2003

Print this article
Email to a friend

George Bush sheds a tear on his visit to Baghdad.
Photo: REUTERS

US President George Bush secretly flew to Baghdad for Thanksgiving dinner with US troops on Thursday in a bid to boost the morale of American forces amid mounting casualties and political pressure at home.

In an elaborate plan to ensure his security, Mr Bush slipped away from his Texas ranch on Wednesday, arrived in Iraq on Thursday and spent 21/2 hours with the troops, becoming the first US president to visit Iraq.

"I bring a message on behalf of America: We thank you for your service, we are proud of you and America stands solidly behind you," an emotional Mr Bush told about 600 soldiers, who were shocked to see the President at the heavily fortified Baghdad International Airport.

With the US economy perking up, Iraq is emerging as perhaps the greatest threat to Mr Bush's re-election next year as American occupation troops suffer almost daily casualties.

His surprise appearance was greeted by thunderous applause and enthusiasm from soldiers. Mr Bush became teary-eyed when he emerged to loud cheering. "I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere," he said. "Thanks for inviting me to dinner." He spoke in the face of a guerilla insurgency in which more than 180 US soldiers have died since he declared major combat operations over in May.

"Those who attack our coalition forces and kill innocent Iraqis are testing our will. They hope we will run," he said. "We did not charge hundreds of miles through the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost of casualties, defeat a ruthless dictator and liberate 25 million people only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins.

"We will prevail. We will win because our cause is just."

His lightning stop came as US efforts to return sovereignty to Iraqis more swiftly have become snarled and the international community is pressing for a greater role. The US-backed plan to give Iraqis sovereignty appeared to be unravelling yesterday as a leading politician backed complaints by Shiite authorities that the process was not democratic enough.

Jalal Talabani, president of the Iraqi Governing Council, emerged from a meeting with the country's leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Hussein Sistani, saying he agreed with Ayatollah Sistani's criticism.

"I see the views of his grace as logical and reasonable, and I agree with them," said Mr Talabani, a Sunni Muslim and the leader of one of Iraq's two main Kurdish parties. Ayatollah Sistani's grievances are a serious setback for the Americans.

Renegotiating the deal could delay the handover of sovereignty, jeopardising efforts to diminish the US presence in Iraq and undercutting the White House's insistence that it is in control of the situation. Coalition officials and the Iraqis insist that they do not want a confrontation, but the situation puts two of the most powerful people in Iraq at odds: Ayatollah Sistani and Paul Bremer, the US administrator of the country. At issue is the deal signed on November 15 by Mr Bremer and the Governing Council. Under the plan, the council would dissolve, and an interim government would serve until a constitution was approved and a permanent government elected.

The White House, aware that it risks losing its battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqis, and facing daily US casualties, is eager to reduce US visibility on the ground. However, it wants to ensure that a friendly government emerges in Iraq.

Iraqi cleric criticizes U.S. plan
By Sudarsan Raghavan
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's most influential cleric strongly criticized Wednesday an American initiative to create a new Iraqi government as flawed and un-Islamic.

His public opposition could potentially derail U.S. plans to hand over power quickly to the Iraqi people.

Through his aides, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the primary leader of the nation's majority Shiites, said Iraqis must directly elect their new interim government in elections planned for next June.

The current U.S. plan calls an indirect vote through an assembly representing all of Iraq's ethnic and religious groups.

Sistani added that the new Iraqi government must have a stronger Islamic character than the one currently planned.

"He didn't find anything that assures Islamic identity," said Abdul-Aziz Hakim, a leading Shiite cleric and politician, in Najaf, Sistani's home.

"There should have been a stipulation which prevents legislating anything that contradicts Islam in the new Iraq."

Direct elections would likely mean domination by Shiites, who make up 60 percent of the population, which could be resisted by Sunni Muslims, who traditionally have controlled Iraq's government and have led recent attacks on U.S. troops.

The grand ayatollah's earlier demand that drafters of Iraq's constitution be chosen through a general election effectively forced the U.S. occupation administrator, Paul Bremer, to rework his previous transition blueprint.

That plan called for drafters to be selected by means other than a general election and for the document to be written before a formal end to the occupation.

Under the new plan -- crafted in part to appease Sistani -- Iraqis will be able to elect delegates to write a constitution.

The document will be written after power is transferred to a provisional government.

Sistani's reported comments could influence ongoing discussions between Bremer and members of Iraq's Governing Council about the process of forming the transitional government.

Some members of the U.S.-appointed council, including Hakim, want clear statements about the role of Islam in society to be written into a basic law that will govern the country until a constitution is written.

Hakim also wants changes in the way the transitional government will be selected.

Bremer's plan calls for caucuses in the country's 18 provinces to choose representatives to serve on a transitional assembly, which would form a provisional government.

Participants in the caucuses must be approved by 11 of 15 people on an organizing committee, which will be selected by the Governing Council and U.S.-appointed councils at the city and province levels.

Also on Wednesday, American soldiers detained a wife and daughter of Izzat Ibrahim Douri, Saddam Hussein's top deputy and the second most wanted man in Iraq.

Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division seized the two during a raid Tuesday morning on a house in Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad, said Master Sgt. Robert Cargie, division spokesman.

They also seized the son of Douri's physician, Cargie said.

There were no signs that Douri was in the vicinity, Cargie said.

But the fact that a tip had led the soldiers to people related to him gave some hope that a recent $10 million reward offer will lead to his capture.

Coalition authorities have accused Douri, the former vice president of Iraq's once all-powerful Revolution Command Council, of being the mastermind behind many of the attacks on American forces in the Sunni Triangle area of Iraq.

The U.S. military last week offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture or death.

It also targeted one of his abandoned houses with a missile to prevent it from being used as a meeting point for guerrillas.

But the 61-year-old ex-deputy commander of Saddam's army remains at large.

Poor intelligence, American officials have lamented, has hampered their ability to fight the guerrillas and suicide bombers who attack U.S. troops almost daily.

In November alone, more than five dozen American soldiers have been killed in attacks, more than any other month since President Bush declared major combat over May 1.

The announcement of the arrests came as retired Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, the former head of Iraq's interim administration, criticized the U.S-led coalition for making crucial mistakes after taking over Baghdad in April.

In an interview in London with the British Broadcasting Corp., Garner said the American military should have acted faster to stop the widespread looting and destruction of government buildings. There were too few U.S. troops, he said.

Garner also criticized his successor, L. Paul Bremer, for disbanding the Iraqi army too quickly. That put a million Iraqis out of work, he said, bringing more hardship to many families.

The original plan, he said, was to use the army to help rebuild the country.

He added that the United States should have done a better job of communicating with the Iraqi people and addressing their problems, such as the lack of electricity.

"I'd have brought in huge generators," said Garner, who came to Baghdad on April 21 and was replaced as chief of the interim administration three weeks later.

"We should have tried to raise a government a little faster than we did."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw painted a rosier picture of the new Iraq. Straw, on a previously unannounced two-day visit to the country, met Wednesday with members of the caretaker Iraqi Government Council to discuss, among other things, the hand-over of power to a new transitional government by June 30.

He said later that handing over the country "as quickly as possible to the Iraqi people" would improve security: "Iraq is a better place and will become a far better place as a result of that transition ... and will be infinitely better when we can get on top of the security situation."

Washington Post contributed to this story.

UPDATE

Pentagon sending more Marines to Iraq than originally planned: Several thousand more Marines will go to Iraq next year, the Pentagon said Wednesday in an update that indicated the total U.S. force won't be reduced as much as planned.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also approved the mobilization of 9,900 Army, 1,290 Navy and 3,208 Air Force reserve personnel for the rotation, which will begin in January to replace the 130,000 troops who will be completing one-year tours of duty in Iraq.

Rumsfeld also put on alert 4,228 Army, 1,290 Navy and 2,381 Air Force reservists, to let them know they may be mobilized for duty in Iraq. The specific units alerted and mobilized Wednesday were not disclosed; the Pentagon says they can expect to be on active duty for up to 18 months.

The Pentagon had announced Nov. 6 most of the details of its rotation plan, which called for relying more heavily on the National Guard and Reserve, while reducing the total number of American troops to about 105,000 by the time the rotation was completed in May.

Although no numbers were provided by the Pentagon, it appears the total number by May will be closer to 110,000, counting the additional Marines.

For reasons not explained in the announcement Wednesday, the Pentagon said it had decided to send an additional three battalions of Marines. Those would be beyond the 20,000 who were designated Nov. 6. The initial group of 20,000 is headed by the 1st Marine Division, from Camp Pendleton.

Wednesday's announcement did not say how many Marines would be in the three battalions.

-- Associated Press