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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BigBull who wrote (97473)	5/6/2003 12:54:47 AM
From: Doc Bones	Respond to of 281500

You make some good points, and I agree Iraq has a chance to become a viable nation, that's why I'd like to see it nurtured more. Regardless of who is mired in what quag, to see the dear leader trying to pump another $726 billion out of the U.S Treasury (aka The U.S. Visa Card) for his beloved rich people, while providing the stingiest support for post-war Iraq, is not edifying. The new governor has a tiny staff and is barely a presence. What about all the promises to the people during the war that we were bringing aid? Just psy-ops or another campaign promise? Doc@nobillionaireleftbehind.com

To: BigBull who wrote (97473)	5/6/2003 1:06:08 AM
From: Doc Bones	Respond to of 281500

A Sense Of Limbo In South Iraqi Power Void Results in 'Chaos' The latest WaPo quagmire story: Quagmire - the South - Doc By Peter Slevin Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, May 6, 2003; Page A01 NAJAF, Iraq, May 5 -- Nearly a month after the war ended in Iraq, the U.S.-British occupation in the south is defined mainly by absence: the absence of Saddam Hussein's ruthless government, but also the absence of authority, the absence of improvements, the absence of answers about what is coming next. In cities across the Shiite-inhabited region stretching southward from Najaf to the Persian Gulf, business and personal affairs remain largely at a standstill. Iraqis say they are waiting, most of all, for someone to take charge. An Iraqi, an American -- many say they do not care in the short run as long as their lives gain purpose and direction. The Hussein government has evaporated, but nothing has emerged yet to take its place, even in the part of Iraq most clearly pacified and ready for reconstruction. Makeshift city councils are being formed, yet Iraqis consider them a poor substitute for an established government. A grain company worker in Amarah said he can't do anything without equipment, which was looted, or instructions, especially after two generations of centralized Baath Party control. A physician in Basra said someone must decide who will run the health system, either the doctors' preferred candidate or the Baath Party health minister who refuses to leave his post. An engineering professor at Basra University, surveying his destroyed campus, said, "This is chaos, not freedom." On a drive through Basra, southern Iraq's largest city, 220 miles southeast of here, it is nearly impossible to find a concrete improvement since resistance by Baath militiamen was silenced April 7. In nearby Umm Qasr, according to Iraqis and British soldiers in charge of the region, the new town council is proving corrupt and inefficient. It did not help that Spanish soldiers, dispatched to aid in the occupation, waded in to break up a demonstration, only to discover it was a funeral procession. "We're glad to hear what Mr. Bush is saying about the future, but the future is a long time. We want the present," said Mustafa As Badar, an executive at an oil drilling company. "We want them to handle this like Americans." For all their ambivalence about U.S. power, Iraqis in the south are perplexed that the United States has not done more to help them now that the war is over. They watched on Kuwaiti television as President Bush pledged rejuvenation. They read the leaflets that fluttered from U.S. planes, rallying them to a bountiful new era. They saw U.S. military might roaring through the desert toward Baghdad. Yet looters wreaked havoc under the noses of U.S. and British commanders. Large-scale humanitarian aid did not arrive and the distribution of staples has not yet resumed. For all the joy about the overthrow of Hussein, political change has produced little but uncertainty. Iraqis across the region say they no longer know which end is up -- and no one is offering a set of instructions. ... washingtonpost.com

To: BigBull who wrote (97473)	5/6/2003 1:39:07 AM
From: Doc Bones	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Here is another story that may belie some of the "Quagmire - The Occupation" stories we hear so much of these days out of Baghdad. MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Rival ethnic groups elected an interim council to govern Iraq's third largest city on Monday in the country's first vote since Saddam Hussein was ousted by U.S.-led forces last month. [I almost <g> feel bad about this, but apparently there's another side to the Mosul success story:] ----- Choice of Leaders in Mosul Stirs Local Questions, Fears New Interim Mayor of Iraq City Has Ambiguous Ties to Hussein By YOCHI J. DREAZEN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Updated May 6, 2003 12:16 a.m. MOSUL, Iraq -- Ethnic and tribal leaders from this tense northern city gathered to select an interim municipal government, but questions about many of the new leaders could exacerbate dissension and make it harder to hold similar elections across Iraq. With helicopters whirring overhead and dozens of American soldiers patrolling nearby streets, more than two hundred delegates from Mosul's Arab, Kurd, Christian and Turkmen communities gathered at a social club to choose a new mayor and city council. The new leadership is meant to hold power until an open election for a permanent civil government can take place in a year or two. U.S. officials are closely watching the election as an important test of their ability to cede power to similar multiethnic bodies in other major cities before setting up a new national government in Baghdad. They also hope the new government can reduce the gunfire and looting that are fueling anti-American feelings across Mosul. Many Mosul residents still are upset by an incident a week ago in which Marines fired into an angry crowd of Iraqis, killing at least 12 civilians and wounding more than 50. Suspected paramilitaries have been firing at American bases in the city every night since, though no soldiers have yet been killed. "By being here, you are participating in the birth of the democratic process in Iraq," said Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Army's 101st Airborne Division, who oversaw the proceedings along with the city's chief judge. "This is a historic event." In an echo of the U.S. experience in Bosnia, the delegates chose a 24-member city council strictly divided along ethnic, tribal and religious lines, with a fixed number of seats reserved for each group. As mayor, the delegates selected Ghanim al-Basso, a retired Iraqi general whose brother was executed by Saddam Hussein's regime. When his name was called, Gen. Basso walked to the front of the room, raised both of his hands and promised to be a "soldier for all of Mosul." But Gen. Basso's selection illustrates the difficulty facing American officials searching for acceptable leaders in a country where almost every politically active Iraqi had some connection to the Hussein regime. Mosul residents reacted angrily, accusing Gen. Basso and other members of the interim government of being vocal supporters of the Hussein regime until shortly before it lost power. "In Mosul, where there are many political prisoners under Saddam Hussein, none of them are in the new government," said former Iraqi Maj. Gen. Isim Mahmood. Gen. Mahmood was arrested in 2000 for plotting a coup against Mr. Hussein and sentenced to be hanged, only to be released late last year as part of a general amnesty. "This is the shame of this council -- all of them shook hands with Saddam until the last moment," he said. Gen. Mahmood and others are especially alarmed by the new mayor's murky background. Many of Gen. Basso's supporters have long claimed he was imprisoned as an opponent of the regime after Mr. Hussein killed his brother, but Gen. Basso, pressed on the matter, Monday acknowledged he hadn't been jailed. He also is described by American officials as an independent who isn't beholden to any ethnic or political party, but he has strong ties to Meshaam al-Jabori, a controversial militia leader who controls the city's television and radio stations and is the main power behind the new Iraqi Homeland Party, whose exact goals remain unclear. Mr. Jabori was in the American base in downtown Mosul when the bloody riot broke out, and many city residents hold him responsible. In his acceptance speech, Gen. Basso went out of his way to thank Mr. Jabori for his support. When the new government walked out into the sweltering heat for official photographs, the militia leader stood behind the new mayor and loudly instructed him on where to stand, whom to talk to and how to answer specific questions. Afterward, Gen. Basso and others from the new government traveled to Mr. Jabori's house for a celebratory dinner. Write to Yochi J. Dreazen at yochi.dreazen@wsj.com online.wsj.com Doc@nowsay-iamnotapuppet.gov