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Sunnis threaten civil war as Iraq constitution deadline extended

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  • Sunnis threaten civil war as Iraq constitution deadline extended

    In a dramatic midnight turnaround, Iraq’s ruling Shia pulled back from threats to force the new constitution through parliament, putting off a vote to buy more time to win over Sunni Arabs who had threatened civil war if it was passed.

    Shia and Kurdish leaders had agreed to a draft constitution laying out plans for a federal system that would transform the Iraqi state into a loose federation of regions with a weak central government.

    Sunni leaders reacted with fury at the proposition, claiming that it would inflame the insurgency and trigger civil war and vowed to defeat the charter at a national referendum later this year unless demands for federalism were dropped.

    But Shia leaders, determined not to miss the deadline, presented the draft to parliament minutes before midnight. To loud applause, the speaker announced that the deadline had been met. Then to stunned confusion, he dismissed parliament without a vote, calling for three more days of talks between political leaders. But as the events of the evening sank in, it remained unclear what could be done to win over the recalcitrant Sunnis.

    Moments after parliament was adjourned, Sunnis issued a statement rejecting the draft because a consensus had not been reached. “If it passes, there will be an uprising in the streets,” Saleh al-Mutlak, a senior Sunni negotiator, said. He added that further blockage of a deal could trigger elections to a new interim assembly, a scenario that most parties — particularly the Shias — wish to avoid.

    Even after printing their final draft, Shia and Kurd leaders had continued trying to win over the Sunnis, but officials said the sticking points had been federalism, the mechanism for allowing regions to devolve and deBaathification — the banning of former regime figures from public office.

    Sunnis vehemently opposed attempts by the Shias and the Kurds to carve out their own powerful federal regions, fearing they could be left high and dry while the oil-rich North and South go their own way. They also fear that deBaathification could keep their minority out of official positions.

    The new delay will come as a bitter disappointment to Washington, which had exerted heavy pressure on the factions to reach an agreement and dropped its opposition to a strong role for Islam, leading to accusations of a sell-out. The Bush Administration badly needs to demonstrate political progress in Iraq to counter growing domestic opposition to the costly military occupation.

    The Administration hoped that involving Iraq’s Sunni minority in the constitutional drafting process would help to bring it back into the political mainstream and sap the violent insurgency.

    But that prospect looked remote last night as Sunnis threatened to derail the draft constitution should it make it through parliament with the issues of contention unchanged. “All the history of Iraq’s problems is contained in this constitution — racism, sectarianism and secession,” Hussein Shukur al-Falluji, a Sunni delegate, said. “If they pass this constitution, then the rebellion will reach its peak.”

    “We will not be silent,” Soha Allawi, another Sunni Arab member of the drafting committee, said. “We will campaign to tell both Sunnis and Shias to reject the constitution, which has elements that will lead to the break up of Iraq and civil war.”

    The Shias would have faced little difficulty ramming the constitution through a parliament they control, but almost certainly backed off because the Sunnis could defeat the draft in October’s scheduled referendum. If two thirds of voters in at least three provinces reject the document, the constitution will fail. The Sunnis have such a majority in three provinces and have started a vigorous “no” campaign.

    The draft was also said to reflect a Kurdish and American compromise over Islamic law. “Islam is a main source for legislation and it is not permitted to legislate anything that conflicts with the fixed principles of the rules of Islam,” it read.

    But it also apparently insists that all laws must respect “democracy and human rights”, a phrase insisted on by America.

    Kurdish leaders said that they backed the agreement, saying that the provision on federalism was enough to satisfy their demands for guarantees that they would retain the broad autonomy they already have in the North.

    The Kurds and the Shias also agreed to distribute Iraq’s oil and other natural wealth “according to the needs” of the central Government and the provinces. The status of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk will be determined by the end of 2007.

    Last night’s deadline was the second after negotiators failed to agree last week, to the disappointment of the Americans. Parliament then voted to extend deliberations by a week.
    The Times

    Oh dear.
    Is it me, or is MOBIUS a horrible person?

  • #2
    Originally posted by Agathon
    Iraq has never had a civil war IIRC, and there's not that much reason for them to start now.
    I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
    For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

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    • #3
      .
      Last edited by DanS; August 23, 2005, 00:14.
      I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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      • #4
        cool

        I'll get the popcorn and park myself in front of cnn

        and it'll pretty much all be bush's fault

        each death that is the result of his actions is just one more degree hotter it'll be when he meets up with reagan in hell
        To us, it is the BEAST.

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        • #5
          The glee in the OP is palpable.

          Comment


          • #6
            I - told - you - so. I hope they can go with a Federal System; i.e. Switzerland. IMHO that is the only real hope to avoid Civil War. Kismet, other Americans will keep getting to bury family members. It is so f**king sad and tragic that this has been so badly mishandled, for Iraqis and Americans. Saddam was worse, unless a full-blown civil war occurs.
            The worst form of insubordination is being right - Keith D., marine veteran. A dictator will starve to the last civilian - self-quoted
            And on the eigth day, God realized it was Monday, and created caffeine. And behold, it was very good. - self-quoted
            Klaatu: I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.
            Mr. Harley: I'm afraid my people haven't. I'm very sorry… I wish it were otherwise.

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            • #7
              Why would the Sunni ever back a Federal system? They get sand, sand, more sand, and a bit of sand. The Kurds and Shiites get oil.

              What the US could do was always limited. This problem was going to be here anyways, whether the country had been secured or not.

              The sad part is that the amdin. does not seem to have ever realized that.
              If you don't like reality, change it! me
              "Oh no! I am bested!" Drake
              "it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong" Voltaire
              "Patriotism is a pernecious, psychopathic form of idiocy" George Bernard Shaw

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              • #8
                It's really sad that us on a damn internet board can see this stuff plain as day but the most powerful man in the world and his entire staff has absolutley no clue.


                There was a story put out the other day about how Colin Powell's State Department issued several warnings to both the Administration and the Pentagon that the post invasion plans were terribly inadequate and they needed to be addressed.
                We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln

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                • #9
                  What are all you pro-defeat in Iraq folks so excited about? Seems like a pretty promising sign that the Shia and Kurds were willing to delay a vote on the constitution in order to make an attempt to allay the concerns of the Sunnis. Very responsible behavior.
                  KH FOR OWNER!
                  ASHER FOR CEO!!
                  GUYNEMER FOR OT MOD!!!

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                  • #10
                    If the Iraqis prove they can't run their country I'm sure we'll suck it dry, I mean run it for them.
                    Long time member @ Apolyton
                    Civilization player since the dawn of time

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                    • #11
                      I don't know if I like that or not:

                      The Kurds and the Shias also agreed to distribute Iraq’s oil and other natural wealth “according to the needs” of the central Government and the provinces. The status of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk will be determined by the end of 2007.

                      I don't know if it is a genuine attempt to let the whole country benefit from oil, or if it is just some useless talk.
                      I think many problems would be defused if a federal structure existed, but where the central government was the owner and manager of all oil. More than a problem of political distribution of power, I am under the impression that the real difficulty is about the oil money.
                      "I have been reading up on the universe and have come to the conclusion that the universe is a good thing." -- Dissident
                      "I never had the need to have a boner." -- Dissident
                      "I have never cut off my penis when I was upset over a girl." -- Dis

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
                        What are all you pro-defeat in Iraq folks so excited about? ...
                        pro defeat ????
                        "Ceterum censeo Ben esse expellendum."

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          What are all you pro-defeat in Iraq folks so excited about? Seems like a pretty promising sign that the Shia and Kurds were willing to delay a vote on the constitution in order to make an attempt to allay the concerns of the Sunnis. Very responsible behavior.


                          Do you really think they're children to be scaled by "responsible/irresponsible" scale?
                          -- What history has taught us is that people do not learn from history.
                          -- Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.

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                          • #14
                            And generally I think it's just a part of a bigger plan - US specially had made the post-war situation unbeareable, to later, when it comes to violence, step in and say:

                            "Guys, as you're too stupid, childish and irresposible different to rule yourselves, we will rule you and control your oil resources ultimately ensure your nation's prosperity."
                            -- What history has taught us is that people do not learn from history.
                            -- Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.

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                            • #15
                              Doesn't it concern you that Iraq is threatening to lurch into civil war due to policies you support?
                              You know, there are people which never understand things unless they happen with themselves..
                              -- What history has taught us is that people do not learn from history.
                              -- Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.

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