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worldwide system of injustice and torture update..., 2005-02-21 11:38:20 | Main | 173rd out of 178..., 2005-02-22 11:39:16 prospects for independence: couple things to flag, Andrew Arato discusses the technical options for the new Iraqi national assembly in regards to the occupation constitution (the TAL), and Kevin Karson calls the current reality "a Hamiltonian system in which the people exercise formal power to elect the government, but the key directions of policy are determined by a small and relatively stable Power Elite that is insulated from any real public pressure". Something I should have flagged a while ago that Karson stresses, in regards to Iraq's semi-permanent puppet-bureaucracy, is Bremer's appointment of key officials for five year terms just before leaving office. In June 2004, the US governor ordered that the national security adviser and the national intelligence chief chosen by the US-imposed interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, be given five-year terms, imposing Allawi's choices on the elected government. Bremer also installed inspectors-general for five-year terms in every ministry, and formed and filled commissions to regulate communications, public broadcasting and securities markets. To which we would add some 160 US senior American 'advisors' supervising all Iraqi ministries and their US appointed ministers, as well the numerous covert tools the US has at its disposal: the 'El Salvador option' hit squads presumably - we wouldn't know if they weren't - already in operation, largest CIA installation in the world, etc. What we know they're doing and have done is, as it stands, bad enough. Unless Iraq's anonymously, unverifiably elected representatives can actually put together a wide majority on such matters in the midst of highly divisive debates regarding the new constitution, Kurdish autonomy, Islamic law, Sunni participation, rapproachment with the insurgency and status of foreign fighters on all sides of the conflict, women's rights, etc., Iraq will continue being run under US written laws and appointed ministers. There are prospects that the non-violent resistance, having forced the US to allow elections and having been elected to power, could strike further blows to US plans for dominating the country. Or they might just be co-opted by the occupation powers - the US government doesn't have much of a problem with Iraq going 'Islamofascist' so long as it maintains control over crucial resources. See: Saudia Arabia. Maybe they need a few good old fashioned IMF riots. Meanwhile the TIME article on backchannel negotiations between insurgents and US military paints the following compromise position on status of American forces: The insurgents also seek a guaranteed timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal, a demand the U.S. refuses. But there are some hints of compromise: insurgent negotiators have told their U.S. counterparts they would accept a U.N. peacekeeping force as the U.S. troop presence recedes. Insurgent representative Abu Mohammed says the nationalists would even tolerate U.S. bases on Iraqi soil. "We don't mind if the invader becomes a guest," he says, suggesting a situation akin to the U.S. military presence in Germany and Japan. To which one might reasonably ask what it is, outside the degree to which America 'projects power' into Iraq, we're still killing people over. :: posted by buermann @ 2005-02-21 12:52:23 CST | link Comments: America is still killing people? Last I looked it was the so called "resistance" Ba'athists and Wahhabiyyah Jihadists that were killing people, in fact there killing of people started after the Occupation of Baghdad, "our" killing of people, has been defense and attacks on the resistance. You know those sweet folk who kidnap and behead foreign workers, like 12 Nepalese drivers, assassinate Iraqi Police and National Guard, blow up Shi'a with suicide attackes and IED's. Not that I have any love for the theocratic Shi'a, and i that regard , especially women's rights. Women have no rights anymore in Iraq, and haven't seen Paul Bremers' Interime Constitution. In fact women can't travel without permission of a male guardian,. But see for yourself what Bremer and crowd have wrought, the recent election cannot make the situation worse than it already is. And when done reading this, google Afghanistan Draft Constitution, compate to Taliban Constitution, then compare to Iranian Constitution. Iraqi Interim Constitution [(A) Islam is the official religion of the State and is to be considered a source of legislation. No law that contradicts the universally agreed tenets of Islam, the principles of democracy, or the rights cited in Chapter Two of this Law may be enacted during the transitional period. This Law respects the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people and guarantees the full religious rights of all individuals to freedom of religious belief and practice. (B) Iraq is a country of many nationalities, and the Arab people in Iraq are an inseparable part of the Arab nation. Article A makes clear that Shari'a is the law of the land Article B makes clear that Iraqi Arabs are part of the pan Arab or Arab Nationalist movement (Nasser or the Ba'aths) posted by Giaour @ 2005-02-25 13:20:38 | link go ahead, express that vague notion Name: Email: Homepage: Comment your turing test: