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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael Hart who wrote (45254)	12/16/2003 5:13:56 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

KOfi and the french got the main brunt.. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Tuesday defended the war that brought down Saddam Hussein and rebuked its opponents in a sometimes testy address to the UN Security Council. "Settling scores with the United States-led coalition should not be at the cost of helping to bring stability to the Iraqi people," Zebari told the council, which has been bitterly divided over the war and its aftermath. "Squabbling over political differences takes a back seat to the daily struggle for security, jobs, basic freedoms and all the rights the UN is chartered to uphold," he said. Zebari also took aim at Security Council powers like France which have suggested that the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council does not have political legitimacy. "As Iraqis, we strongly disagree with those of you that question the legitimacy of the present Iraqi authorities," he said. "The governing council is the most representative and democratic governing body in the region." Zebari unleashed some pointed jabs at UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, another vocal critic of the US-led war, who recently launched a "contact group" on Iraq's future without including any Iraqi members. "Without Iraqi participation in discusions that have Iraqi interests at stake, such as the recently formed UN contact group, decisions taken cannot be held valid," Zebari said, with Annan sitting just a few seats away. "We insist on playing a full part in any initiative that concerns the future of our country," said Zebari. "Iraq is our country and our opinion must not be excluded." Annan, who pulled all international UN staff out of Baghdad because of security concerns, earlier told the council his Iraqi team would work out of Cyprus and the Jordanian capital until security improves. But Zebari said: "Your help and expertise cannot be effectively delivered from Cyprus or Amman." The council meeting was called to discuss the plan for the US-led coalition to hand over power to Iraqis by the end of June, under an agreement reached last month between the coalition and the Governing Council.

To: Michael Hart who wrote (45254)	12/17/2003 7:43:46 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 50167

Is This The Proper Way to Introduce "Democracy" to Iraq? "A disturbing new phenomenon in this environment of growing military violence has been the appearance of hooded and masked gunmen - working for the Americans - on road checkpoints north of Baghdad. Five of them now check cars on the Tigris river bridge outside Samarra, apparently fearing their identities will be discovered if their faces are not concealed. They wear militia uniforms and, although they say they are part of the new American-backed "Iraqi Civil Defence Corps", they have neither badges of rank nor unit markings. The same hooded men are now appearing on the streets of Baghdad." Message 19604996 fairuse.1accesshost.com