Bush downplays Iraqi rifts on constitution (diplomat says it is trouble)

[jsamuel]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050828/pl_afp/iraqconstitutionus

US President George W. Bush downplayed opposition to Iraq's draft constitution from the country's Sunni Arab minority, but a senior US diplomat said the rift could spell trouble.

Days after making a personal appeal to Iraq's majority Shiites for more concessions, Bush urged Sunnis to stick with the political process even as he predicted rising violence ahead of an October 15 constitutional referendum.

"The enemies of freedom, the terrorists will become more desperate, more despicable and more vicious," he said, adding that violence will "increase in the coming months because the enemy knows that its greatest defeat lies in the expression of free people, and freely enacted laws, and at the ballot box."

Negotiators agreed to 11th-hour changes to the text in an effort to win endorsement from the alienated Sunni Arab former elite, whose community has driven the anti-US insurgency, but failed to bring the Sunnis on board.

<snip>

[opihimoimoi]

1. Once more Bush confirms to the World of his Dufusness

[DemInDistress]

2. 2nd try...

Subject: Can the Bush Crime Family call this a win??
Message:
Is anything better than nothing? If the Sunni's denounce this agreement until election day and it fails to pass could this Crime Family blame Sunni's? Meanwhile the carnage continues unabated unchecked and billions of dollars goes missing....

[bustarbusto]

3. Interestingly, NYT downplays them too

David Brooks has this to say:

'Yesterday, after reading gloomy press accounts about the proposed Iraqi constitution, I thought it might be interesting to hear what Galbraith himself had to say. I finally tracked him down in Baghdad (at God knows what hour there) and found that far from lambasting Bush, Galbraith was more complimentary about what the administration has just achieved than anybody else I spoke to all day.

"The Bush administration finally did something right in brokering this constitution," Galbraith exclaimed, then added: "This is the only possible deal that can bring stability. ... I do believe it might save the country."'

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/opinion/25brooks.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists

[leftchick]

5. david brooks can kiss my ass

he is as delusional as the rest of the neo-freaks.

[Christa]

4. BBC calls it a 'recipe for chaos'

Parts of the Iraqi draft constitution submitted on Sunday are a "recipe for chaos", Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has warned.

He told the BBC the Arab League shared Sunni Muslim concerns over federalism and the fact the charter does not identify Iraq as an Arab country.

The US and UK have played down Sunni leaders' rejection of the text, which will go to a referendum by 15 October.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4194214.stm

[leftchick]

6. Finally! An excellent article addressing the issues....

Insead of all that ra-ra crapolla...

<snip>

He said he was concerned that the draft text denies Iraq's "Arab identity".

"I do not believe in this division between Shia and Sunni and Muslims and Christians and Arabs and Kurds," he said. "I don't buy this and I find in this a true recipe for chaos and perhaps a catastrophe in Iraq and around it."

[IndianaGreen]

7. The "Jewish constitution" is what it is called!

They carried pictures of Shiite clerics Muqtada Al-Sadir and Jawad Al-Khalisi who have joined the Sunnis in opposing the constitutional draft.

Sheik Yahya Ibrahim Al-Batawi, an organizer of the protest, read a statement denouncing the “Jewish constitution,” saying its goal was to divide Iraq along sectarian and ethnic lines.

Sunni negotiators delivered their rejection in a joint statement Sunday shortly after the draft was submitted to parliament. They branded the final version as “illegitimate” and asked the Arab League and the United Nations to intervene.

“I think if this constitution passes as it is, it will worsen everything in the country,” said Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni negotiator.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9084376/

Sunnis have the votes to defeat this constitution, I hope they do! This constitution is a setback to women's rights. Iraqi women were among the most liberated in the Middle East. Not anymore!

Women should join the insurgency and topple the Iraqi Taliban from power.

[William Bloode]

8. I was just watching Cnn Headline News .

I heard one of the biggest pieces of whoring...i mean whoa! They portrayed it just like i assume they were told. It was reported that the Iraqi constitution was approved by the parliment, but was being protested by "some" Sunni's.

I thought that there had been no approval yet? I guess according to Cnn, all the other news i have seen and read is wrong.

[IndianaGreen]

9. This will backfire once it becomes clear that the insurgency is stronger

thanks to the Taliban constitution that was "passed" by a US puppet assembly. If I were an Iraqi woman, I would be joining the insurgency in order to protect my rights to be free from Shia religious tyranny.

[rodeodance]

10. "no different than is what is the case in Israel" Khalilzah said. They

all live in a land of delusion!!!!

......He rejected charges that religious statements in the new charter would lead Iraq to become an Islamic state based on shariah law. "The words ... are the same as in the constitution of
Afghanistan," he said.

The final draft said the political system of Iraq would be "republican, parliamentary, democratic and federal", and referred to Islam as "a main source of legislation".

The Islamic roots of law in the Iraqi constitution are balanced by declarations for principles of democracy and human rights, Khalilzad said, making it a pathbreaking "new synthesis" for the Middle East.

He said that, under the charter, Iraqis will be able to choose between civil law and shariah law for their own personal legal needs. In this way, it is "no different than is what is the case in
"no different than is what is the case in
Israel," Khalilzad said.......

[IndianaGreen]

12. Bush and Blair hailed the new constitution

They are just as deluded, or perhaps they think we are stupid to believe whatever comes out of their mouths.

[Logician]

11. A Constitution?

With input from whom? A living, dynamic document written by all affected by the previous tyranny? This is just an effort to spin more propaganda and creating a 'free' Iraq? Free and fair for whom?

Bush is desperate for some good news on Iraq, and this latest propaganda construct is just what he needs.

It is a crying shame that he did not cultivate a true constitution with buy-in from all people, especially the Sunnis.

But as we know time and time again, patience, intelligence, and willingness to be inclusive are not characteristics of this administration. What terrible times for America and the world!