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

To: stockman_scott who wrote (39107)	3/9/2004 8:44:27 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 89467

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To: stockman_scott who wrote (39107)	3/9/2004 8:45:31 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Shiites Press for Elected Iraqi Assembly 15 minutes ago By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - The leader of Iraq (news - web sites)'s biggest Shiite political party on Tuesday described the nation's interim constitution as a "huge achievement," but echoed criticism by an influential Shiite cleric that parts of the document encroached on the powers of a future elected parliament. Elsewhere, an American soldier was killed after a roadside bomb exploded while his convoy was passing by, the U.S. military said. The soldier was the first member of the 1st Infantry Division, which is replacing the 4th Infantry Division, to die in Iraq, said Maj. Debra Stewart. The soldier was killed after the Humvee he was riding in was hit by the bomb in Balad Ruz, just east of Baqouba in the Sunni Triangle. A second soldier was wounded in the explosion and airlifted the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad and was listed in stable condition. The names of both soldiers were withheld pending notification of their families. The latest death brings to 553 the number of American service members who have died since the Iraq conflict began March 20. Most of those deaths occurred after President Bush (news - web sites) declared an end to major combat May 1. The U.S.-picked Iraqi Governing Council signed the temporary constitution on Monday, a key step in U.S. plans to hand power to the Iraqis by July 1. "Our main problem lies with the imposition of restrictions set by an unelected body on an elected body," said Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and a member of the U.S.-appointed council. "No one believes that this document reflects perfection or embodies the ambitions of everyone," he told a news conference. His criticism reiterated that of the Shiites' most influential cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, who issued a religious edict on Monday saying the document will gain legitimacy only when adopted by an elected assembly. Al-Sistani's supporters on the Governing Council pledged to try and amend parts of the charter. Al-Hakim, who maintains close ties to al-Sistani, said they would seek the consensus of council members on any amendments. On Tuesday, a senior Shiite cleric from the holy city of Karbala also criticized clauses pertaining to federalism in the document, warning that they could lead to the dismemberment of Iraq or plunge the nation into civil war. Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Taqi al-Modaresi, whose views are respected but commands a much smaller following than al-Sistani, said in a statement that the interim charter's adoption of a federalist system would be "a time bomb that will spark a civil war in Iraq if it goes off." In contrast, President Bush praised the 22-page charter, saying its adoption was a "historic milestone in the Iraqi people's long journey from tyranny and violence to liberty and peace." Bahr al-Ulloum, an elderly Shiite cleric who heads the council, described the signing of the new charter as a "historic moment, decisive in the history of Iraq." Most of the council's 13 Shiite members, including Bahr al-Ulloum, refused to sign the document Friday, citing al-Sistani's opposition for their last-minute decision. During talks over the weekend, al-Sistani signaled to the Shiites that they could sign despite his reservations. Bahr al-Ulloum's fellow Shiites on the U.S.-appointed council said they would sign for the sake of national unity and to keep the political process moving forward. "We say here our decision to sign the document is pegged to reservations," Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a senior Shiite council member told reporters after the ceremony. "In reality, we had a choice between delaying the constitution or dealing with our reservations, particularly on two clauses, in an annex." The annex will decide the shape of the Iraqi government that will take over from the U.S.-led occupation authorities June 30. The more important of the two clauses in dispute, according to al-Jaafari, would give Kurds and Sunni Arabs a de facto veto over a permanent constitution. It stipulates that if two-thirds of voters in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject it, then the document cannot be adopted, parliament is dissolved and a general election is held. Kurds make up the overwhelming majority of three northern provinces where they've enjoyed self-rule since 1991. Kurds and Sunnis, who combine for 30-40 percent of Iraq's 25 million people compared to the Shiites' 60 percent, see the clause as a safeguard against the domination of the Shiite majority. Shiite politicians countered that leaving the clause unchanged gives a minority of as little as 10 percent of the population the power to block the will of the remaining 90 percent. "We have produced a document that we can justly be proud of," said a jubilant Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni politician and council member. "This is a beacon of light for future generations." Iraq's permanent constitution will be drafted by a legislature elected by Jan. 31, 2005 and the Shiites politicians said the clause in question, if left unchanged, will encroach on the powers of the elected body. ___

To: stockman_scott who wrote (39107)	3/9/2004 1:18:18 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Bush campaign to challenge legality Media Fund election ads LIZ SIDOTI and SHARON THEIMER A group financed in part by liberal billionaire George Soros will run $4.5 million worth of TV ads against President Bush that mention the Republican by name, a point of contention among the president's re-election team that argues the spots violate federal law. The Media Fund's initial two-week buy, beginning Wednesday in 17 competitive states, will include commercials that criticize Bush's policies and priorities. Bush's re-election campaign plans to ask the Federal Election Commission to investigate. The group expects to raise tens of millions of dollars to run ads this election year. It bought at least $1 million worth of airtime Monday and expects to buy more this week for its initial ad run. Bush's campaign, which began its own $10 million initial ad blitz last week, called the group's activity illegal. The campaign said it would file a complaint with the FEC accusing the Media Fund of violating a broad, new ban on the use of "soft money" -- corporate, union and unlimited contributions -- for federal election activity. "This is the blatant soft-money circumvention of the recently passed campaign finance laws that all the Democrats, from Senator Kerry and Senator Daschle to Nancy Pelosi, were so sanctimonious about," said Tom Josefiak, general counsel of the Bush-Cheney campaign. "It is an attempt to blow up the ban on the newly passed campaign finance reform bill to use soft money to win a federal election," he said in a statement. At the same time, Citizens United, a conservative group headed by former Republican congressional aide David Bossie, is running an ad in several states that is funded with soft money and pokes fun at presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry's haircut, designer clothing and property holdings. The ad calls the senator a "rich, liberal elitist from Massachusetts who claims he's a man of the people." "The rank dishonesty of the Republican position is certainly highlighted by their refusal to condemn the identical activities of Republican groups," said James Jordan, a Media Fund spokesman. Bush's campaign contends the Media Fund is trying to influence the presidential election and should have to register with the FEC as a political committee, which would limit it to accepting only donations of up to $5,000 from individuals and other political committees, and require it to disclose its fund raising and spending to the commission. Several campaign finance watchdog groups filed a similar complaint with the FEC against the Media Fund and other political soft-money groups in January. Jordan called the Bush campaign's allegations "simply, a lie, a deliberate misrepresentation of the law." "This is nothing more than a cynical and transparent attempt to intimidate our donors and silence dissenting voices," Jordan said. The Media Fund, which is headed by former Clinton administration adviser Harold Ickes, is the second outside group to go on the air in as many weeks to counter Bush's multimillion-dollar ad campaign and ensure a Democratic presence on the airwaves. The liberal MoveOn.org Voter Fund also is running ads in swing states. The Bush campaign suggests that Media Fund donors may have broken the law by giving to the group, and it wants the FEC to find out whether contributors gave thinking their donations would be used to influence a federal election. Soros spokesman Michael Vachon accused the Bush campaign of trying to intimidate donors with a "completely bogus" complaint. Asked if Soros would keep writing checks to the Media Fund and other soft-money groups, Vachon said, "Absolutely." The Media Fund argues that it is legal to spend soft money on anti-Bush ads as long as they stop short of calling for his election or defeat. The donations must also be kept separate from any corporate or union contributions. Bush-Cheney officials said they won't ask for the ads to be pulled off the air because the FEC doesn't have that authority, and because a court is unlikely to act before the FEC finishes its review of the new campaign finance laws. The object of the complaint is to highlight what Bush campaign officials say are Democratic hypocrisies and to prod the FEC to act more quickly than it has in the past, the officials said. The FEC is currently considering how the new campaign finance law affects soft-money groups, like the Media Fund, that aren't registered with the commission as political committees, including whether they should face new limits on their fund raising and spending. The agency is expected to decide the question by May. sfgate.com lurqer