THE US, THE UN AND IRAQ VI

REALLY GOOD analysis of what happened when, and why, from The Atlantic Monthly, but it is too long to quote here. Below is just the first couple of paragraphs:

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/01/pollack.htm
Spies, Lies, and Weapons:

Hastert agrees to extension for 9/11 panel
Commission chairman pressed for more time
Friday, February 27, 2004 Posted: 6:25 PM EST (2325 GMT)





WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After intense pressure from lawmakers and family members of victims, House Speaker Dennis Hastert reversed his position Friday and said he would not oppose granting a 60-day extension to the commission investigating the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

In a letter to commission Chairman Tom Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton, Hastert said the commission could wait until July 26 to hand in its report -- 60 days after the original May 27 deadline.

"Thank you," commission spokesman Al Felzenberg said on hearing the news. "We now feel we can write the best possible report for the American people."

The 10-member bipartisan commission is looking into the attacks, the government responses and some U.S. intelligence before the attacks.

Hastert's letter emphasized that the commission must still dismantle as planned July 26 and may not request an extension beyond that date. He called his offer "a compromise."

But minutes after the letter was released, Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman, who had launched a bipartisan effort to push an extension through Congress, said on the Senate floor that commission leaders spoke with Hastert and expect to get an additional 30 days to dissolve the commission after turning in the report.

Kean and Hamilton will meet with Hastert early next week to work out an official agreement, said McCain, an Arizona Republican.

McCain and Lieberman, a Democrat of Connecticut, had sought Friday to tack a commission extension onto a critical highway funding bill. In the end, the bill passed the Senate without the amendment and was expected to win quick passage in the House.

Hastert's letter to Kean and Hamilton was complimentary and praised them for providing "an important service to the nation."

He wrote that he had been reluctant to support the extension because he believes "the findings and recommendations that will be contained in your report may require immediate action" to help prevent further attacks.

Earlier in the week, his spokesman, John Feehery, said the speaker also did not want the issue to become "a political football" by stretching its report further into the election year.

Kean, a Republican and former governor of New Jersey, rejected that argument Friday.

"I really don't think, with all due respect to the speaker, that politics is a reason for saying we should have a less good report for the American people," he said on CNN's "American Morning."

With a staff of nearly 70 and a budget of $14 million, the panel is known formally as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

The Bush administration initially opposed the commission's creation in November 2002, and the White House's commitment to the probe has been questioned.

But the White House said it supported the extension. Spokesman Scott McClellan dismissed as "silly" the suggestions by some Democrats that the administration was secretly backing Hastert's earlier position.

A senior administration official said the White House welcomed Hastert's decision, and added that in the past week Bush spoke with Hastert about supporting the extension. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card also called Hastert this week to reiterate the administration's position.

Conversations continued into Friday between top aides to Bush and aides to the speaker. One official familiar with the conversations said that by midday Friday "it was pretty clear" the debate over the extension "was not a winner" for the speaker or the White House.

Some Democrats and family members of 9/11 victims had called on Bush to persuade Hastert to allow the commission all the time it needed.

Sen. John Kerry, front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, did just that during a campaign stop Friday in California.

"I believe it's in the nation's interest to know the truth about 9/11," Kerry said. "Mr. President, stop stonewalling the commission and stop hiding behind excuses. Pick up the phone, call your friend Denny Hastert and tell him to let the commission finish its job so we can make America safer."

Democrats have also accused the administration of limiting or delaying access to top officials and key documents.

But McClellan, speaking to reporters Friday, said, "This administration has bent over backwards to make sure the commission has the information they need to do their job."

Kean told CNN that Bush is providing "a lot of cooperation."

"We have now seen the most secret documents in the possession of the United States government," he said. "No congressional committee has ever seen those kinds of documents."

Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney said they will each meet for one hour with Kean and Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana.

In a written statement, the commission said, "We hope the president and the vice president will reconsider." Both former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore have agreed to meet with all members of the commission, the statement said.

Felzenberg told CNN that he still hoped Bush would decide to meet with the entire commission. But he also credited Bush, saying it is highly unusual for a sitting president to meet with an investigative panel empowered by Congress.

CNN's Ted Barrett, Dana Bash, Phil Hirschkorn, Joe Johns, John King and Steve Turnham contributed to this report.

Iraqi Council Split on New Constitution

By LEE KEATH
Associated Press Writer





BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi leaders were unable Friday to agree on an interim constitution as they tried to bridge wide differences over major issues, including the shape of the role of Islam and Kurdish autonomy, a day before the U.S.-set deadline for finishing.

The interim constitution is supposed to serve as the foundation of the Iraqi government until a permanent charter can be completed next year. It will serve as the basis of the legal system after the U.S.-led coalition returns sovereignty to the Iraqis on June 30.

Members of the drafting committee held talks for several hours late in the evening in a bid to meet the Saturday deadline. The top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, must approve the final version.

But a "significant number" of members walked out during the session, and the meeting had to end because a quorum was lost, an official who attended the talks told The Associated Press. Some remaining members continued into the night, the official said on condition of anonymity, without saying who walked out or why.

A spokesman for the Kurdistan Democratic Party said there was "no great progress" on the terms of a Kurdish federal region, the Arab television station Al-Jazeera reported.

Asked if the constitution would be completed by the deadline, Feisal Istrabadi, an adviser to council member Adnan Pachachi said, "I hope so," adding that talks would continue Saturday.

Ahead of the evening session, council member Mahmoud Othman said it was likely the drafters will need more time.

Missing the Saturday deadline by a few days would not set back U.S. plans to transfer power on June 30. But Othman and other council members said this week that some of the most controversial issues may be not be resolved in the interim constitution - and could be held over until work starts on a permanent one next year.

Putting off central issues would highlight the divisions on the U.S.-picked council, already criticized by many Iraqis as ineffective.

Major differences among the drafters include the role of Islam and the extent of Kurdish autonomy in the north, Othman said. Also undecided is the structure of a collective presidency - whether the body should have three or five members and whether the chairmanship should rotate, said a spokesman for council member Waeil Abdel-Latif.

Islamic conservatives on the council want the constitution to state that Islam is the main source of legislation and no law should be passed if it is contrary to Islamic values, Othman said.

Bremer has suggested he might veto such language. The U.S.-favored text would enshrine Islam as one of the sources of law - but not the only one. "We think that is a good formula," Othman said.

The constitution will create a federal system to decentralize power after a long history of Baghdad's keeping a strict hold on Iraq's disparate regions.

But council members are sharply divided over the terms of a Kurdish federal region - particularly the status of Kirkuk, an oil-rich region with significant non-Kurdish populations, and the future of Kurdish militias, which the Kurds want to maintain, Othman said.

Beyond the constitution, the occupation authority and the Iraqi leadership must decide how to pick the new government due to take power on June 30 - an undertaking both sides say will need the United Nations' help.

The process of establishing such a government overcame a major hurdle Thursday when Iraq's most prominent Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, dropped his objection to an unelected administration's taking power on June 30.

Al-Sistani said he would accept a weak, unelected government if elections are scheduled as soon as possible thereafter and the United Nations guarantees no more postponements.

In the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, meanwhile, tens of thousands of Shiite men, including many Iranian pilgrims, performed traditional self-flagellation rituals Friday as part of the feast of Ashoura, which marks the killing of the Shiite saint, Imam Hussein.

This year's feast, which continues into next week, is the first Ashoura commemoration since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Security is tight in the holy cities to prevent sectarian attacks.

In other developments:

- Militants plastered a mosque in the city of Ramadi, west of the capital, with leaflets claiming responsibility for the killing of seven Iraqis suspected of giving information to U.S. troops, warning, "This is the fate of all informers."

- Some 130 Japanese soldiers arrived in Samawah, about 230 miles southeast of Baghdad to join another 100 already there. The soldiers are working to supply Iraqis with clean water, rebuild schools and bolster local hospitals. Their number is expected to increase to 1,000 ground, air and naval forces.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Iraq Misses Deadline for Constitution


February 28, 2004 02:31 PM EST


BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's U.S.-picked leaders failed to meet a Saturday deadline for adopting an interim constitution but were expected to find compromise soon on contentious issues including the role of Islamic law and the status of women.

Still, the delay signaled the deep and persistent divisions over how to distribute power among the country's ethnic and religious factions and to balance Islam and secularism. It also marked the latest glitch in U.S. plans to hand sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.

Earlier Saturday, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, met with members of the Governing Council in an attempt to overcome their differences. An official in the U.S.-led coalition, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a charter could be completed Sunday.

At issue are efforts by conservatives to enshrine Islam as the main source of law in Iraq, Kurdish demands for that they not lose their self-rule federal region and Shiite attempts to dominate the new government's presidency.

Shiite leaders and members of the council have rejected the U.S. formula for picking the government due to start ruling in July, but no one has been able to agree on an alternative - likely requiring the United Nations to step in to help.

The council - hand-picked by the United States to reflect the diversity of Iraq's ethnic and religious groups - has been ensnared in those groups' mutual mistrusts and clashing ambitions, despite months of debate on many of the same central issues.

Shiite Muslims are trying to stake out the political power they feel they deserve as Iraq's majority community, Kurds seek to solidify their autonomy and Sunni Arabs hope to maintain a voice. At the same time, secular politicians and women on the council have tried to fend off Islamic hard-liners.

Mahmoud Othman, a Sunni Muslim Kurd on the council, said meeting the Feb. 28 deadline - set by the Americans and agreed to by the council - was less important than resolving issues now, rather than leaving them unclear.

"The Iraqi people have been waiting for a law for 45 years. If it takes a few more days so what? It's got to be finished," he said. "Sometimes you get something that's not finished, and afterward people will argue about it. There will be problems."

The document is to remain in effect until a permanent charter is adopted next year. But all sides are pushing to get their interests met in the interim constitution, which will likely be a basis for the permanent version.

The issue of Islam's role has been particularly sensitive.

Bremer, who must approve the final document, has hinted he would veto any text enshrining Islam as the main basis of Iraqi law. Liberal politicians see the provision as a possible first step to imposing Islamic sharia law, and many women fear their rights would be restricted.

U.S. officials and some on the 25-member council support making Islam only one of many sources of law.

"I think this is as far as we can go," Othman said. "We want it to be a democratic state. We don't want an Islamic state, we want a state that respects religion. ... It should be a balanced formula."

Raja Habib al-Khuzaai, a Shiite woman on the council who has opposed the conservatives' phrasing, said there appeared to be "flexibility" on the issue. But she said members were still divided over a provision that would set aside 40 percent of seats in a future government for women.

In a sign of the tensions, eight of the council's 13 Shiite members stormed out of a meeting on the constitution late Friday after a vote that canceled a controversial resolution that would have made Islamic law the basis for issues like divorce and inheritance.

Also unresolved are Kurdish demands for self-rule powers under a federal system - including control over their region's oil and natural resources and the right to maintain their militias as a distinct armed force.

With that debate still unresolved, the Kurdish demands have brought similar calls from Shiites.

A leading Shiite party on the council, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, demands that all regions of the country should get whatever rights the Kurds ultimately receive, said Hamed al-Bayati, a senior official in the group.

"We are saying that the rest of the Iraqi people should have the same rights, whether in the north, the west or the south," he said.

The Supreme Council maintains its own armed militia, the Badr Brigades, mainly in southern cities. The south, where most of Iraq's Shiite majority is centered, also holds large oil reserves.

Sunni Muslims have expressed deep concerns over what they see as a Shiite drive to dominate the new government. Shiites were harshly repressed under Saddam Hussein's regime and now see the chance to rule.

The Supreme Council is also pressing for the presidency under the new constitution to reflect the Shiite majority in the country.

One proposal before the council would have a presidency that rotates between a Shiite, a Sunni and a Kurd. But al-Bayati said the presidency should either have one president, a Shiite, with a Sunni and a Kurd deputy or should rotate among five people - three Shiites, a Kurd and a Sunni.

Othman said that Shiites on the council were using their connections with Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, to press their demands, claiming that they have his support.

"I think this will make things more complicated," he said.

re:Alleged Bush agenda

Gelisgesti wrote:

re:Alleged Bush agenda

Many American's are concerned about:

Potential terrorist attacks
Leftist hatred of America
Leftist hatred of Bush
Leftist ignorance
Leftist irrationality
The culture battle between left and right
Excessive domestic gov't spending
Bush encouraged domestic Gov't spending
Prosecution of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but not Haiti
The continuing rapid deterioration of the Rule of Law
The continuing rapid deterioration of US public education
Inadequate availability of school choice
The rapidly increasing amount of unlawful judicial legislation
Unavailability of social security privatization

Gelisgesti wrote:

re:Alleged Bush agenda

Many American's are concerned about:

Potential terrorist attacks
Leftist hatred of America
Leftist hatred of Bush
Leftist ignorance
Leftist irrationality
The culture battle between left and right
Excessive domestic gov't spending
Bush encouraged domestic Gov't spending
Prosecution of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but not Haiti
The continuing rapid deterioration of the Rule of Law
The continuing rapid deterioration of US public education
Inadequate availability of school choice
The rapidly increasing amount of unlawful judicial legislation
Unavailability of social security privatization

Blair is finished, and I'm sorry about that. It's down to his heart's wish to do the right thing overcoming his head in not understanding the quality of the people who were running things.

Attacks Expose Divisions in Pakistan, Iraq

By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Attacks on Shiite Muslims in Pakistan and Iraq killed at least 185 people on Tuesday and exposed the deep fissures that have opened in two key battlegrounds in the U.S.-led war on terror.

The carnage - while not necessarily linked - apparently was carried out by militants marching to the same anti-American drumbeat and feeding off sectarian tensions that have been around for centuries.

"The terrorist attacks in both these places are by people who follow the same philosophy of religious extremism," said Mehdi Hassan, a political analyst and retired professor from Punjab University in Lahore. "Pakistan and Iraq have one thing in common - and that is the policies of the United States and the resentment of those policies."

There have been no claims of responsibility in either country for the attacks on one of the holiest days on the Shiite calendar, but the killings bore a similar pattern.

In the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, three suicide bombers detonated explosives at the Kazimiya shrine, killing 58 and wounding 200. In the holy city of Karbala in southern Iraq, at least one suicide attacker blew himself up and preset explosives detonated, killing 85 and wounding over 200.

Less than two hours later, at least three attackers in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta opened fire and hurled grenades at a procession of Shiite worshippers, then blew themselves up as troops moved in. Two attackers died and the other was in custody in critical condition. At least 42 people were killed, including the attackers.

Tuesday was Ashoura, the climax of the 10-day festival marking the killing of the 7th-century Shiite saint Imam Hussein, which is commemorated across the Muslim world and often sparks bloodshed.

In both Pakistan and Iraq, thousands of Shiites were gathered for processions and other rituals to mark the feast when the attacks took place.

Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said there was no evidence to indicate the Iraq and Pakistan attacks were linked.

But others said the attacks bore the hallmarks of international terror.

"What happened in Quetta, this was a massive operation, and it would have required Arab elements, maybe even al-Qaida," Sen. Nisar Memon of the ruling PML-Q party told The Associated Press. "I think they would like to destabilize the country, particularly President (Pervez) Musharraf."

In Iraq, U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt identified Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an al-Qaida-linked Jordanian militant who trained with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, as a chief suspect in the attacks there, and said the aim was to spark a Sunni-Shiite civil war.

Since ousting President Saddam Hussein, U.S. forces have struggled to put down a fierce insurgency and bring order to Iraq. On Tuesday, many Iraqis took their venom out on American forces, accusing them of orchestrating the bloodshed or at least failing to provide the security to prevent it.

Sectarian violence is nothing new in Pakistan, but the level of attacks on Shiites, minority Christians and foreigners has been striking since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Though no al-Qaida nexus has been traced to the Quetta attack, past sectarian violence in the restive city has been linked to bin Laden's terror network.

Daud Badini, a leading suspect in a July 2003 attack that killed 50 Shiite worshippers in Quetta, was a brother-in-law of Ramzi Yousef, who is serving a life term in the United States for the 1993 World Trade Center bombings. Badini remains at large, but four other suspects from the outlawed Pakistani Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have been jailed for 2003 killings in Quetta.

Allama Mahdi Najfi, the chief Shiite Muslim cleric in Quetta, blamed pro-Taliban and al-Qaida militants within Pakistan's main Sunni extremist organizations - Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi - for Tuesday's attack.

"We know that pro-Taliban and al-Qaida people were involved in previous terrorist attacks against our people," he told AP. "We are certain that the same people did it today."

Afghan and U.S. officials have also long suspected the ousted Taliban regime of using Quetta as a base for launching attacks inside Afghanistan. U.S., Afghan and Pakistani authorities believe bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, are likely hiding out along the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and have recently stepped up their efforts to find them.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Musharraf has been a staunch ally of the United States. He has also become a prime target of extremist groups, narrowly escaping two assassination attempts in December.

Musharraf's decision to crack down on al-Qaida and turn his back on his former Taliban allies has polarized this Islamic nation of 150 million. Hassan said the president's insistence on toeing the U.S. line is undermining his rule in the eyes of even more moderate Pakistanis.

"American forces have occupied Iraq against the wishes of the Iraqi people, and in Pakistan, the leaders have adopted pro-U.S. policies that are resented," he said. "The government is losing credibility day-by-day."

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.