The US, UN & Iraq III

d
scrat, this link works .....


Don't believe all that you read


Kara, there goes my mistique (sp?)

Gel, Try "mys...." c.i.

CI ..... OK..... MYS....

Still don't look right

From Common Dreams



For all of the ugliness and tragedy of 9-11, there was a brief period afterward where I held a great hope, in the midst of the tears and shocked faces of New Yorkers, in the midst of the lethal air we breathed as we worked at Ground Zero, in the midst of my children's terror at being so close to this crime against humanity, in the midst of all this, I held on to a glimmer of hope in the naive assumption that something good could come out of it.


Actor Tim Robbins speaks about his anti-war stance at the National Press Club in Washington Tuesday, April 15, 2003. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
I imagined our leaders seizing upon this moment of unity in America, this moment when no one wanted to talk about Democrat versus Republican, white versus black, or any of the other ridiculous divisions that dominate our public discourse. I imagined our leaders going on television telling the citizens that although we all want to be at Ground Zero, we can't, but there is work that is needed to be done all over America. Our help is needed at community centers to tutor children, to teach them to read. Our work is needed at old-age homes to visit the lonely and infirmed; in gutted neighborhoods to rebuild housing and clean up parks, and convert abandoned lots to baseball fields. I imagined leadership that would take this incredible energy, this generosity of spirit and create a new unity in America born out of the chaos and tragedy of 9/11, a new unity that would send a message to terrorists everywhere: If you attack us, we will become stronger, cleaner, better educated, and more unified. You will strengthen our commitment to justice and democracy by your inhumane attacks on us. Like a Phoenix out of the fire, we will be reborn.

And then came the speech: You are either with us or against us. And the bombing began. And the old paradigm was restored as our leader encouraged us to show our patriotism by shopping and by volunteering to join groups that would turn in their neighbor for any suspicious behavior



http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0416-01.htm

Below is the full text of the AP dispatch scrat quoted from. I find it interesting that what Bremer calls " a great example of embryonic democracy" is a council chosen by 230 electors from Mosu's main families and ethnic groups, and endorsed by the U.S. Military. This is the beginnings of democracy?


Monday, May 19, 2003

By LOUIS MEIXLER
ASSOCIATED PRESS



MOSUL, Iraq - Touring the country he has been entrusted to reconstruct, the top American civilian official met Sunday with a city council billed as postwar Iraq's first elected body and called it a "great example of embryonic democracy."

L. Paul Bremer, Iraq's civilian administrator, said Washington remained committed to establishing an interim national government without delay.

"We are intent on moving as quickly as possible," Bremer said.

The trip to northern Iraq was Bremer's first official visit outside Baghdad since the State Department's former head of counterterrorism arrived in the country almost a week ago to lead the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.

His visit to Mosul was received with bewilderment and curiosity - and at least one kiss on the cheek.

"Who is he?" one Iraqi asked as Bremer and his entourage walked the streets. "Is this our new American president?" wondered another.

Bremer met privately with the 32-member council in a former municipal building in the center of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city. A soldier from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division stood guard at the door with an assault rifle and grenade launcher.

The council, chosen May 5 by 230 electors from Mosul's main families and ethnic groups and endorsed by the U.S. military, has already moved to purge Saddam Hussein's Baath Party loyalists from top public positions in the city.

"It is great to see what the Iraqi people can do by themselves once they're released from the tyranny they've suffered from for the last 30 years," Bremer said.



Also, I don't know if this is the same article in the NY Times, but this one is by Eric Schmitt and David Sanger, - "Looting is Derailing Detailed US Plan to Restore Iraq - Monday 19 May 2003.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/19/international/worldspecial/19POLI.html

And Dick Cheney said, on March 16, "We will in fact be greeted as liberators."

'embryonic democracy'... between the language which is crafted for these fellows and real states of affairs yawns a gap which could swallow small star systems.

mama,

Any chance you can edit out that huge space?

This administration has so far struck out on all quarters. I wonder if anything positive will ever come out of this war that cost lives and billions? c.i.

Drug testing for presidential candidates
Convicted felons banned from holding public office
A three party system
Mandated monthly presidential press conferences without a two question limit
Mandatory voter participation in presidential elections.

How about those for a starting target CI

d
Salam Pax
Eiraq
Iraqi pictures






http://dearraed.blogspot.com/

http://www.electroniciraq.net/


http://littleredbutton.com/

Kurd-Arab clashes imperil Iraq cease-fire
By Charles A. Radin, Globe Staff, 5/20/2003

IRKUK, Iraq -- A wave of village burnings, forcible evictions, and armed clashes between Kurdish forces and Arab fighters is sweeping through north-central Iraq in an outbreak of ethnic strife that threatens the tenuous cease-fire imposed by the US-led coalition.
The clashes have centered on the pivotal oil-rich city of Kirkuk and could have great influence on who wields political and economic power in Iraq.
Following fresh evictions and the burning of two Arab farm villages, Arab irregulars attacked the regional government building in Kirkuk on Saturday, and they fought with Kurdish forces on the streets of the city with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades on Sunday. Officials say at least 10 people were killed in the violence last weekend.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/140/nation/Kurd_Arab_clashes_imperil_Iraq_cease_fire+.shtml

CI - sorry, I didn't realize. Better now.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (May 19) - Saddam Hussein is hiding in Iraq with a small group, probably including his sons, and issuing orders to trusted supporters as he plots a return to power, according to former Iraqi generals returned from exile.

The generals, who were in exile for years and now play a key role in working with U.S. forces to purge the Iraqi public service and security apparatus of Saddam die-hards, said the deposed president had ordered a name-change for his Baath party.

Maj.-Gen. Tawfiq al-Yassiri told Reuters Saddam had changed its name in the last few days to "Auda," meaning return.

"Saddam used his authority as the secretary-general of the party. He is hiding with a small group that probably includes his two sons," said Yassiri, who helped lead a rebellion against Saddam in 1991.

Saddam was trying to spread chaos in Iraq, which is now under the control of the U.S. forces that ousted him last month after three weeks of war.

"Saddam Hussein prepared for every eventuality, including the total collapse of his regime. He does not leave anything to chance and has ample means of communication," Yassiri said.

"He uses different tools at his disposal to issue orders for his followers to spread chaos."

The general said most old Baath leaders were gone, but a new generation, including sons of the old guard, was helping Saddam.

Iraqi Maj.-Gen. Saad Obeidi, a psychological warfare specialist now working with U.S. forces, said Saddam's success would depend on how the U.S.-installed administration ran Iraq.

"Time has always been the backbone of Saddam's strategy. He is a man who knows the psychology and sociology of Iraq. The looting and disorder we see now fall in his favor," said Obeidi, a psychological warfare specialist.

"Americans have to act fast. People will forget all about the Baath Party if order and prosperity return."

The Baath party, whose name means resurrection, was founded in Damascus in the 1940s by three Arabs educated at the Sorbonne university in Paris. It came to power in Iraq in 1968 and used force to crush all opposition.

Earlier this month U.S. forces banned senior members from holding office in Iraq and said it had been dissolved.

Speculation about the whereabouts of Saddam and sons Qusay and Uday has swirled since Baghdad fell. Several top aides are in U.S. custody and Washington has said it is confident he will be found if he is still alive.

Earlier this month a close associate was quoted as saying Saddam was safe in Iraq and organizing resistance. And pro-U.S. Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi said in remarks published a week ago he had credible information Saddam and his sons were alive and in Iraq.

05/19/03 12:11 ET

Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Apologies, craven.

Walter posted:



Walter, thank you for that piece. This effect was predicted many times during the run up to the war on Iraq.

That depends on what follows. Clearly it is not possible to hold elections today, and just as clearly you would be unhappy if individuals from the US and coalition countries ruled until a constitution is drafted and elections can be held. So, this sounds like a reasonable solution given the realities of the situation, but perhaps you can suggest an alternate course of action that would make more sense to you and lead more surely to the democratic form of government you'd like to see.

I'd like to see constitutional experts from Europe and America assist the Iraqis in the develop of a constitution which guarantees the human and civil rights we've come to expect and then hang in there with basic aid and support until they develop a central government which can make sure that constitution is the reigning authority.

As many angry at Bush & Co keep pointing out -- with great justification: We must not forget in this country that the Constitution is about government, not the people. It is a limitation of government, not a rule-setter for citizens. Lately the Constitution is spoken of as a series of rights granted by government. Not a good way of looking at it... I'd like Iraq to be a reminder to America that a constitution is about righteous governance, a contract in which the government is the employee of the people charged with maintaining justice and peace.

Can I summarize your suggestion as:
1st) a constitution needs to be drawn up
2nd) a central government needs to be developed,
and until it is, the US should provide (only?) "basic aid and support"?

So what exactly are you proposing on how the country is to be governed during these phases 1) and 2)?

Input of European experts on drafting the constitution, good idea, and one the Americans won't allow, so that's an easy point scored, but it still leaves the question Scrat asked. What's the suggested alternative in how to govern the country until a constitution is drafted and then a central government is developed? Because more will need to be provided than "basic aid and support" in the meantime: looting needs to be stopped, crime prevented, possible guerrilla attacks prevented, garbage collected, factories run ...

One other point of criticism could be that surely, a new constitution should be drafted by an elected body, rather than by a group of people the US (or the UN) would now decide to be the 'main players'? So elections first, after all? Which again brings us back to: is it a good idea to hold elections (and election campaigns) when even the most basic services (water, light, heating) are not restored yet, and who organises them/oversees them?

To just go, for practicality's sake, back to the parallels again - what do you think of how UN and OSCE went about this whole process in Bosnia and Kosovo? There, the shift into democracy was an extremely gradual one, is still overseen by supranational authority even now in fact. Good practice, bad practice, what lesson would you take from it?

I think it rather humerous to see the Iraqi's telling the Americans to go home. They don't want American occupation. c.i.