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

To: sylvester80 who wrote (72098)	2/6/2005 5:25:21 PM
From: jlallen	Respond to of 89467

Cheney Turns Aside Concerns on Emerging Iraqi Government By BRIAN KNOWLTON, International Herald Tribune Published: February 6, 2005 ASHINGTON, Feb. 6 - Vice President Dick Cheney turned aside today concerns that the emerging government in Iraq might be strongly Islamic and might set more restrictive standards for women's rights than for those of men. Leading Shiite clerics in Iraq, whose religious parties appear likely to take power in the new constitutional assembly, have been pushing for a clear Islamic aspect to the country's new constitution, with such matters as marriage and divorce made subject to Koranic law, and daughters liable to receive only half the inheritances of sons. But Mr. Cheney appeared cautious and sanguine when asked about this. "We have to be very careful here," he said on the television program "Fox News Sunday." "We're trying to forecast what an as-yet-unformed government is going to do." "This is going to be Iraqi, whatever it is," he said. "It's not going to be American. It's not going to look like Wyoming or New York when they get their political process all put together." Mr. Cheney also noted that the leading Shiite political parties had shown no interest in setting a deadline for a United States withdrawal, despite pressure from Sunni parties with which they have been negotiating. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sought to clarify the exact conditions for an American withdrawal from Iraq. President Bush said Wednesday in his State of the Union address that success would come when Iraq had become "a country that is democratic, representative of all its people, at peace with its neighbors, and able to defend itself." But Mr. Rumsfeld said that the language about self-defense referred not to Iraqis' ability to protect against external attack but rather to maintain internal peace. The comment seemed to raise questions. A United States decision to pull out and leave behind an Iraq without a fully armed, trained and effective army and air force - thus vulnerable to attack from a neighbor like Iran - would be controversial. But for Iraqis to achieve the ability to deter attack from a neighbor like Iran could take "many years" more, Mr. Rumsfeld said. Yet, he appeared at the same time to indicate that an American withdrawal would not ignore any threat from Iran and Syria, saying, "We don't know the extent to which they're going to be unhelpful or helpful." Mr. Cheney said he doubted that Iraqi Shiites would be strongly influenced by what he said was the failed theocratic approach of their Shiite brethren in Iran. "The Iraqis have watched the Iranians operate for years and create a religious theocracy that has been a dismal failure," he said. Still, an Iraqi constitution based on Koranic law would depart sharply from the transitional law the Americans enacted in Iraq before appointing an interim government led by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. American officials had pressed for guarantees in that document of equal rights for women and minorities, as they had done earlier in Afghanistan; the transitional Iraqi document cites Islam only as "a source" of legislation. But some senior Shiite clerics, confident of a broad mandate from the Jan. 30 elections, want Islam to be the official underpinning of the government. How that plays out as Iraqi politicians come together in a constitutional assembly this year is far from certain. Fundamentalist Shiites will be vying with secular-minded groups, and must negotiate with Kurds, who can exercise veto power over the new constitution, and with Sunnis, whose inclusion is essential to Iraqi cohesion. A move toward a Koran-based constitution would, nonetheless, be alarming for some in the United States. Mr. Cheney said he was comforted by the public pronouncements of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's revered Shiite cleric, who had made clear that "he doesn't believe clerics should play a direct role in the day-to-day operations of government." Mr. Cheney also expressed a strong preference for a diplomatic resolution of the tensions over the Iranian nuclear program that have given rise to speculation about possible administration planning for a limited military strike. Both Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rumsfeld appeared to play down recent suggestions that the Bush administration might be preparing for possible military strikes on suspected Iranian nuclear targets.