Kucinich Calls for Free, Direct Elections in Iraq

[AnAmerican]

January 19, 2004
Democratic Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich today called for the holding of free and direct elections in Iraq, which he said can only be successfully facilitated by the United Nations following the replacement of US troops with UN peacekeepers.

"There was a peaceful protest march 10-miles long in Baghdad today," said Kucinich. "How could we better honor the holiday of Martin Luther King Jr. than to respect the demand for democracy made by a 10-mile long gathering of some 100,000 peaceful people? This was a march that included Sunnis and Shiites. This was a march of poor people who want jobs and democracy, and who are demanding free and direct elections. Establishing a democracy in Iraq will not be simple or easy, but it can be done if the US occupation ends.

"A people who can hold a 10-mile long peaceful march must be taken seriously. The protests are now peaceful, but they may turn violent if the Administration continues its insistence on wanting to run the government of Iraq indirectly. The Administration's unwillingness to concede self determination to the Iraqi people sets the stage for real conflict and puts our troops in grave danger.

"It is time for the United States to involve the United Nations in a new plan which involves the United Nations assisting the Iraqi people in developing a new constitution and the United Nations helping to enable Iraqis to hold free and direct elections. This is part of the following plan, which the United States must take to the United Nations and request that it be incorporated into a new Security Council Resolution: (more)"


Full text at http://kucinich.us

[LWolf]

1. Go directly to the issue of the day.

No hesitation. Get the job done.
No pretense; if democracy is your ideal, then do it.

That's Dennis.