THE US, THE UN AND IRAQ, TENTH THREAD.

Quote:

The governent of Iraq did not reply to our demand. The USA subsequently invaded Iraq.

Hmm, you don't think the fact that we had been bombing Iraq for the last ten years had anything to do with them not aceding to our demands?

Cycloptichorn

Joe Nation, that is quite a statement about Feith from Haydon and substantiated by a lot of documentaion. Yet Haydon has been misleading himself in other areas. http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/may2006/190506tapphones.htm

...
A March 27 Time magazine report published claims by an Iraqi civil rights group that the Marines barged into houses near the bomb strike, throwing grenades and shooting civilians as they cowered in fear.

The report prompted calls for a Pentagon probe.
...

That doesn't change the fact that al-Qaeda found sanctuary in Iraq in December 2001 and grew substantially by the time we invaded Iraq in March 2003.

...
One thing you have to remember about the present bunch in Washington is that they don't think the Constitution contains a right to privacy. They vehemently object to it's use in supporting a woman's right to choose and they sure don't want anybody using it for any other purposes, like living your life in freedom.

Joe(Strange how the wheel goes round.)Nation

The Constitution of the United States of America
...
Article II.
Section 2.
...
The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States;
...
Amendment IV.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
...

The Declaration of Independence
(Adopted in Congress 4 July 1776)

...
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

...
the fact of the matter is, as President Bush himself has said, there was no connection between Iraq and the Al Queda's attack of 9-11.
...

War Is Peace

Freedom Is Slavery

...

Zarqawi and Zawahiri, two current leaders of al-Qaeda, have both repeatedly informed us that there are now a large number of al-Qaeda in Iraq who are doing their damnedness to drive the US out of Iraq by sparking a civil war between the Sunni and Shia in Iraq. In captured letters, they have stated their objective is to convince the USA to leave Iraq, so as to permit Iraq to become a permanent sanctuary for al-Qaeda.

Quote:

Zarqawi and Zawahiri, two current leaders of al-Qaeda, have both repeatedly informed us that there are now a large number of al-Qaeda in Iraq who are doing their damnedness to drive the US out of Iraq by sparking a civil war between the Sunni and Shia in Iraq. In captured letters, they have stated their objective is to convince the USA to leave Iraq, so as to permit Iraq to become a permanent sanctuary for al-Qaeda.

And why are they there? Because of George Bush. Bush has made Iraq into what Afghanistan was during the Russian invasion, a training ground for terrorist. We can all thank Bush for helping the terrorist recruit and train new terrorist to kill Americans. As long as Americans are in Iraq we will help create new terrorist.

By the way, most of the insurgency today in Iraq are Sunni Iraqi Muslims. Al Qaeda is a minority.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's parliament approved a national unity government on Saturday, achieving a goal the U.S. hopes will reduce widespread violence so that U.S. forces can eventually go home. But as the legislators met, at least 27 people were killed and dozens wounded in a series of attacks.

Police also found the bodies of 21 Iraqis who apparently had been kidnapped and tortured by death squads that plague the capital and another area. The wounded included two British soldiers whose convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in the southern city of Basra, police said.

In a show of hands, the 275-member parliament approved each Cabinet minister proposed by incoming Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The new ministers then took their oaths of office in the nationally televised session in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

That completed a democratic process that began following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

In his first address, al-Maliki told parliament that he would make restoring stability and security the top priority of his new administration. He said he would "work fast" to improve and coordinate Iraqi forces so they can reduce attacks by insurgent groups and militias.

Al-Maliki said he would set "an objective timetable to transfer the full security mission to Iraqi forces, ending the mission of the multinational forces."

But his failure to fill the top two security porfolios illustrated the challenges ahead. Al-Maliki, a Shiite, said he would be acting interior minister for now, and he made Salam Zikam al-Zubaie, a Sunni Arab, the temporary defense minister.

That angered some legislators, and before the Cabinet was approved by a show of hands, parliament turned down a motion by Sunni Arab leader Saleh al-Mutlaq to postpone the session.

Al-Mutlaq then walked out with about 10 other Sunni deputies.

Why Sunni are key in sectarian warfare
5/20/2006 The Independent - By Patrick Cockburn
The Sunni Arabs of Iraq feel they are fighting for their very existence. Some 5 million strong, they see themselves as fighting against a foreign occupation and impending Shia and Kurdish domination.

The past three years have brought nothing but disasters. When Saddam Hussein was overthrown many Sunni reviled him as a disastrous ruler. They scarcely fought for him during the US and British invasion, despite dominating the officer corps and security services. But as foreign occupation was established and the army dissolved, they launched a guerrilla war.

The Sunni insurgency proved highly effective. They could not drive the Americans out, but neither could the US stabilise its rule. This still remains true.

"The Kurds were able to destabilise Iraq for 50 years," said the Iraqi commentator Ghassan Attiyah. "The Sunni can certainly do the same."

But the insurgency was of a peculiar type. All its organisations were against the occupation. Many were to a greater or lesser degree nationalist. But they were also Islamic and Salafi - Islamic Sunni fundamentalists - seeking to re-establish the pure faith by war against unbelievers and heretics. The latter include the Iraqi Shia, 60 per cent of the population.

From August 2003, suicide bombers attacked the Shia, killing several thousand as they queued outside army and police recruiting offices, or simply waited for work in the street. But sectarian war only really got underway in 2005.

There were two elections, on 30 January and 15 December, and a new constitution. The elections, the first boycotted by the Sunni, established the Shia and the Kurds as the new powers in Iraq. The constitution formalised the break up of the country into large regions.

The Sunni community in Baghdad became terrified. Death squads run by the Interior Ministry picked Sunni up on the street, and several days later their badly tortured bodies would be found on garbage dumps. There were tit-for-tat killings. But the blowing up of the Samarra shrine on 22 February this year led to the outbreak of wholesale sectarian warfare.

The real battle will be in the capital, where the Sunni are a minority - but a large one. Districts like al-Dohra in south Baghdad are becoming Sunni strongholds as the Shia flee.

There will be Sunni ministers in the government which is expected to be announced today in Baghdad. The US is eager to conciliate them if only because it fears a take-over of Iraq by Shia religious parties possibly sympathetic to Iran.

But there is no reason to think that Sunni political leaders speak for the insurgents. And in any case, the elections confirmed that the Sunni are only 20 per cent of the population. Therefore, their political strength depends on their ability to go on fighting.

The Independent