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Iraq
’Chaos’ ’mars’ talks on Iraqi self-rule
2003-04-16
The Guardian is up to its usual tricks today, so I'm putting the scare quotes into their eadline.
The US and British governments yesterday formally began the ordered tortuous process of steering Iraq towards a democratic future, but the first day of talks was undermined by technical delays, schisms and fierce political and religious unrest sweeping across the country. The meeting, at the Talil airbase outside Nassiriya, went ahead despite a boycott by the extremist fringe main Shia Muslim group in Iraq. The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq is Iranian-backed, and if it foments unrest, its actions could increase tension between Washington and Tehran.
Oh, you noticed!
The meeting ended with only the broad outlines for a new government agreed as was planned. Because In spite of the progress setbacks, Jay Garner, the retired US general who has been put in charge of reconstruction, declared at the start of the meeting: "A free Iraq and a democratic Iraq will begin today." As Iraqi exile groups sat down with selected Iraqis from within the country, there was a small huge Shia mob demonstration in Nassiriya rolling their eyes calling for rule by their lame-brained ayatollahs. Residents overwhelmingly expressed disapproval of Ahmad Chalabi, an exile who is being pushed by the Pentagon as the next Iraqi leader.
Chalabi seems to be everyone's lint brush, doesn't he?
Despite a statement promise by the US president, George Bush, that the UN would have a "vital role" in Iraq, it was appropriately not invited to attend the Nassiriya meeting.
Since the purpose of the meeting was to get something accomplished, it made sense to exclude the UN.
US marines, standing behind barbed wire, blocked access to Iraqis wanting to attend the meeting. One of those outside, a former Iraqi major, Zamil Hamid, 54, said: "I tried to participate but they do not allow me to. One of the US soldiers told me I was not on the list."
So take a hint, Zamil, and wait for the elections.
Diplomats had said privately that simply holding yesterday's meeting without it descending into a bitter dispute would be regarded as a success, however modest. Many of the speeches met with lukewarm applause and the most vital questions for the future remained unanswered.
Saddam spent 25 years wrecking the country, and the Guardian is aghast that it's taken us over a week to put it back together.
"What model will we use?" asked Hoshyar Zebari, an official from the Kurdish Democratic party. "Will it be the Afghan model, will the United Nations be involved, what will be the role of the opposition? These are all things we have to decide." Mr Khalilzad tried to encourage the Iraqi representatives to work quickly towards an interim authority. "We want you to establish your own democratic system based on Iraqi traditions and values," he told the meeting. "I urge you to take this opportunity to cooperate with each other."
There's a new concept in Iraq.
A statement at the end of the meeting set out a 13-point framework for a new government. It was unclear who had suggested the points and whether the Iraqis had voted on any issue, other than the decision to meet again in 10 days. "The first vote of free Iraq should be about when the next meeting is," Gen Garner said.
Spoken like a meeting chairman.
The statement said the future Iraq should be a democratic, federal system and one not based on communal identity. It stressed the rule of law and the role of women, and said the meeting had discussed the relationship between religion and the state, although it did not appear to come to any agreement on this issue. The Ba'ath party, through which Saddam Hussein exercised ultimate control, was to be dissolved. "Its effects on society must be eliminated," the statement said.
Sounds like quite an accomplishment: one meeting and they've already agreed to a framework that actually make Iraq a decent place to live.
Several more meetings will be held in the weeks ahead before a final interim Iraqi authority is drawn up. "There should be an open dialogue with all national political groups to bring them into the process," the statement said. US officials who attended the meeting said they were likely to present their own proposals at the next gathering, an idea that many of the chest-thumping fiercely nationalistic Iraqi assorted nut-jobs groups are likely to find disconcerting.
Too flippin' bad, boys. We brought the DJ, the drinks, the sound system and the mirror ball. You're invited to the party but don't get any strange ideas.
Posted by:Steve White

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