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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (35601)	1/18/2004 10:38:23 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Why the US is running scared of elections in Iraq The occupation of Iraq continues to get worse for George Bush and Tony Blair. The deaths of at least 20 people in a suicide bomb attack outside the coalition headquarters in Baghdad yesterday morning underlines the spiralling unrest in the country. The toll of US casualties since Saddam Hussein's capture is higher than in the same period before it. Angry protests over unemployment and petrol shortages have erupted in several cities in the south, in areas under British control. Above all, Washington's plans for handing power to an unelected group of Iraqis is being strongly challenged by Iraq's majority Shia community. The occupiers who invaded Iraq in the name (partly) of bringing democracy are being accused of flouting democracy themselves. Oh yes, and then there's the small matter of the weapons of mass destruction on which Saddam increasingly appears to be the man who had truth on his side. When he said he had destroyed them years ago, he, rather than Bush and Blair, was the man not lying. While the Hutton inquiry looms as the main Iraq worry for the prime minister, the primary problem for Bush is the chaos in Iraq. His plans for minimising Iraq as an election issue are in tatters. They relied on three things: the capture of Saddam; a reduction in the toll of US dead and maimed; and the start of a process of handing power to Iraqis. The first was accomplished in December when the former dictator's successful eight-month evasion of massive hunting parties came to an end. But instead of it leading to a collapse of resistance, US casualties have gone on growing. Bush's always dubious argument that Saddam was running the insurgency from various well-hidden quarters has fallen apart. Baathists who did not want to be seen as defending a hated leader were freed from that image. Other branches of the resistance were never Saddam supporters. It also transpires that Saddam rejected part of the resistance. Although he called for jihad against the occupiers in the tapes slipped out to al-Jazeera and other Arab media, he was writing more careful private notes to his friends. He urged them to beware of the fundamentalists - an ironic sign that even in his months of beleaguered clandestinity, he remained faithful to the secular principles which had made him attractive to western governments in the 1980s, when the main enemy was seen as Iran. With casualties stubbornly continuing to remain high, the US is now banking on its project for transferring power to Iraqis this summer. This is an acceleration of Washington's earlier plans. The UN security council resolution it pushed through unanimously last October called on Iraq's governing council to draw up a timetable for drafting a constitution and holding elections. It also called for the UN "to strengthen its vital role in Iraq". But the White House has a habit of ignoring the UN resolutions it sponsors. Just as it went to war without a second resolution, after getting unanimity on one which most member states did not feel contained a trigger, the October 2003 resolution was also ignored. A month after it was passed, the US came up with a plan which made no mention of any role for the UN and cobbled together an extraordinary process of "caucuses" to pick a government. At least in Iowa, the Democratic party caucuses involve elections. Not in the US plan for Iraq. The US is proposing that "notables" in each province attend these caucuses to appoint an assembly which would select a government. Not surprisingly, the Shia leadership smells a rat. After generations of being excluded from power, first by the British occupiers in 1920, and then by successive Sunni governments up to the one led by Saddam, they are angry. Their spiritual head, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has repeatedly denounced the plan. He wants direct elections. His legitimate fear is that the US wants to control the selection of a government because it thinks the wrong people will win, in particular the Shia. Washington is also worried that Sunni fundamentalists and even some Baathists might do well in the poll. The other new element in the US plan was that power would be transferred to the new government at the end of June. This would allow Bush to claim mission accomplished. Barely a year after the invasion, Iraqis would have a legitimate government at last. It would invite US troops to stay, but these could gradually be reduced in number or pulled back to bases in Iraq, as new Iraqi security forces were built up. US casualties would fall, the invasion would have been legitimised, and Messrs Dean and Clark would have to shut up. Now the whole thing is in ruins. Ayatollah Sistani refuses to drop his opposition, and people were out on the street in Basra last week to support his line. Protests may spread to other Shia cities. The latest allegations of US and British torture of detainees will only inflame passions. Worst of all for Washington, Sistani has made it clear that no government which is undemocratically appointed will have the right to ask American troops to stay. Washington is trying to argue that if there are to be direct elections, the transfer of power will have to be delayed. Sistani rejects that. His supporters say the oil-for-food ration-card lists which covered the whole Iraqi population can easily be used in place of the poll cards which Washington says would take at least a year to prepare. Unlike Afghanistan, with its remote villages and months of snow which make polling stations hard to deploy and staff, Iraq's geography is no obstacle to quick elections. The moment of truth for the administration is also one for the United Nations. Having snubbed the UN for so long, the White House is turning to Kofi Annan at a meeting in New York today to bail it out. Like his Shia forebears who refused to meet the British after 1920 for fear of being denounced as stooges and sell-outs, Sistani refuses to talk to Paul Bremer, the top US envoy, or his British colleagues. He meets Iraqis who bring messages from the coalition authorities, and he meets the UN. So Washington is pressing the UN either to go and persuade Sistani that elections are impossible, or to monitor the caucuses and give them its seal of approval. Annan should resist the poisoned chalice. He should support the concept of direct elections. It need not mean a delay in sovereignty for Iraq. Five months are not too long to prepare a vote. Alternatively, the UN should offer to take over responsibility for the entire transition to Iraqi rule, as many member governments originally hoped. Washington's plan for a transfer of power is a facade. The real intent is to get Bush re-elected and continue the occupation by indirect means. The UN should have no part of it. guardian.co.uk lurqer

To: lurqer who wrote (35601)	1/18/2004 11:08:11 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

"the Admin was claiming that Saddam then possessed large quantities of WMDs, and that as a result he was an imminent threat to his neighbors" The 'imminence' spin Message 19469570 A Brief History of The Imminent Threat Canard Message 19469610 Sorting out the "imminent threat" debate <This from a group of like minded liberals> Message 19508187

To: lurqer who wrote (35601)	1/18/2004 11:44:07 PM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 89467

the draft? a post from the motley fool ====================================================== Pilots and troops are shunning the cash bonuses offered for re-enlistments. The troops recognize a quagmire even if their neocon overlords cannot. The only source of troops is the draft. Bush is digging deeply into the reserves. I was talking to a lady this week whose son, a first semester senior at Arkansas, was activated in Dec. He was only a couple of weeks short of his finals, but he had to go. They've been told they'll do 12 months in Iraq. The fact that Bush had to extend active enlistments give the lie to the idea that soldiers are happy and reupping.

To: lurqer who wrote (35601)	1/18/2004 11:53:59 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

"a year ago, the Admin was claiming that Saddam then possessed large quantities of WMDs" The Bush Admin claimed that Iraq illegally possessed massive quantities of unaccounted for WMD's & WMD materials (all well documented by the UN & other agencies). That was but one of many issues that Iraq egregiously violated as part of the Gulf War Cease Fire Agreement. Any single violation would justify a resumption of hostilities. Additionally the Bush Admin also spelled out in detail that that Iraq was in egregious & repeated violations of numerous aspects of Resolution 1441 for more than a decade. This included Saddam's massive crimes against humanity. The Bush Admin identified clear, irrefutable ties to terrorist organizations. It discussed, all of Iraq's illegal WMD programs & Saddam's continuing attempt to improve those illegal programs. The Bush Admin discussed their illegal missiles systems, their unmanned aerial vehicles & dispersal systems designed for use on aircraft. They noted that Iraq was required to file a currently accurate, full, and complete declaration of all aspects of its chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other delivery systems programmes. Every declaration Iraq provided contained numerous false statements & omissions. They noted Iraq was required to provide immediate, unimpeded, unconditional, and unrestricted access to any and all facilities, sites, etc. They repeatedly denied such access. They noted Iraq was required to provide free and unrestricted use and landing of fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft, including manned and unmanned reconnaissance vehicles, but repeatedly prohibited such uses. Etc., etc., etc. Here are just three excellent examples that prove my point. President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat whitehouse.gov President Delivers "State of the Union" whitehouse.gov Remarks to the United Nations Security Council Secretary Colin L. Powell February 5, 2003 state.gov

To: lurqer who wrote (35601)	1/19/2004 12:06:46 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 89467

Actually, your responses to my posts are quite laughable. Your opinion does not stand up to the scrutiny of the real facts. You come off as simply an inflexible partisan ideolog who has more excuses to avoid seeking or acknowledging the truth regarding what the Bush Admin's really did, said & made public to the whole world regarding Iraq. That's such a shame that folks who have such great intellectual capability can delude themselves so deeply for so long & not once have doubts as time & events unfold & the evidence mounts against an unyielding POV.