Southwest Asia News Digest
Sistani's Challenge to Constitution Forces U.S. Backdown
Iraq's supreme Shi'ite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a stern threat to the UN Security Council, and forced the Anglo-Americans to abandon support for the illegal provisional "constitution." Sistani's message was sent in open letter to the chairman and members of the Security Council June 7, warning them that the inclusion or even mention in any new UNSC resolution of the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) would lead to "dangerous consequences." The TAL, drafted under the occupation and its influence, is regarded by some as a new "constitution" to be included in discussions of the permanent constitution after the interim period.
Al-Sistani's message read: "We have been informed that there are those who are attempting to mention the so-called "Transitional Administrative Law" in the new UNSC resolution concerning Iraq, in order to give it international legitimacy. "This 'Law' was drafted by an non-elected council under the occupation and through direct influence from it [the occupation], and it would bind the national congress that will be elected in the beginning of the next year to establish the permanent constitution of Iraq. This matter is in contrast to all laws and is rejected by most members of the Iraqi people. Therefore, any attempt to give legitimacy to this 'Law' through mentioning it in the international resolution would be regarded as an act against the Iraqi people, and would be a foreboding of dangerous consequences."
Al-Sistani thus reiterated his position that any law or regulations or government created under the occupation is null and void, and will not be taken into consideration after the end of the occupation. The TAL included major changes in the Iraqi social and political structure, turning Iraq into a federation of regions, dividing the country into ethnic or religious regions, and giving the Kurds an independent status and veto on future Iraqi constitutional deliberations.
LaRouche Says Iraq Already Has a Constitution
The 1958 Iraqi Constitution is the only legitimate starting point for the Iraqi people, as they work to establish a workable government, said Democratic Presidential precandidate Lyndon LaRouche on June 9, following the UN vote on Iraq. Not until the Iraqis have established a representative government of their own, can they set up a legitimate process through which to form a new Constitution. Until then, the 1958 Constitution is it.
Instability Remains After UN Vote on Iraq
The United Nations vote for a resolution accepting the interim government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi as "sovereign," did little to help President George Bush's standing in the United States, or internationally.
The Security Council voted unanimously June 8 to adopt a U.S.-British resolution that formally ends the occupation of Iraq on June 30 and authorizes U.S.-led troops to keep the peace. There were five drafts before one was finally accepted, with the final one giving the "sovereign" Iraqi government the power to ask the U.S. military occupation force to leave their country.
Control of the 160,000 U.S.-led troops was the most contentious issue, for which the resolution authorizes a multinational force, under American command, to "use all necessary measures" to prevent violence. The U.S. pledged, in a letter from Colin Powell appended to the UNSC resolution, a military "partnership," and coordination with Iraq's leaders, but did not agree to give Baghdad a virtual veto over major military offensives as France, Germany, Algeria, and others had wanted. The resolution gives the Iraqi interim government the right to order U.S. troops to leave at any time and makes clear that the mandate of the international force would expire by the end of January 2006.
A letter from the interim Prime Minister is also appended to the resolution, which virtually returns "sovereignty" to the United States. In his letter, Allawi allows the military command decisions to stay with the United States, using the excuse of security, which Allawi references in saying there continue "to be forces in Iraq, including foreign elements, that are opposed to our transition to peace, democracy, and security." But, of course, Allawi gave up Iraq's right to make the military decisionsas demanded by the U.S.so that whatever insane "war on terrorism" mandate comes from the Bush Administration, including targetted assassinations, will continue, with the Iraqis being allowed to stop it.
A well-placed Arab journalist told EIR that Allawi is considered "a joke," for making Iraq remain an occupied country. In the eyes of many of the intelligentsia in the Arab world, Allawi's letter actually says to the UN: We appreciate your intention, but we really don't need to control what military forces occupy our country. This does not endanger our sovereignty.
The resolution calls for elections no later than Jan. 31, 2005. The U.S. military occupation, euphemistically referred to in the resolution as the "multinational coalition" will have to leave no later than January, 2006.
Meanwhile, in order to implement this continued U.S. military occupation, thousands of additional U.S. Army troops were informed that they will be returning to Iraq, even though their tour of duty just recently ended; and under the Army's "stop-loss" policy, individuals who completed their terms are not allowed to retire at present because the United States does not have sufficient troops to both remain in Iraq and rotate personnel.
What Colin Powell Said
The letter from Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi to the UN Security Council, was, in reality, an appendix to a letter from the U.S. government via Secretary of State Colin Powell which says that the multinational force (in reality the U.S. occupation as stands in Iraq now) stands ready "to counter ongoing security threats posed by forces seeking to influence Iraq's political future through violence. This will include combat operations against members of these groups, internment where this is necessary for imperative reasons of security, and the continued search for and securing of weapons that threaten Iraq's security." Powell also commits to provide security for UN personnel and installations. This will require a brigade-size force, he says.
The letter from Allawi basically said, "I agree."
There are several significant problems looming for the U.S. after the UN vote:
*George W. Bush's request to have NATO lend a hand in Iraq by providing more troops, resources, etc. is being rebuffed by the leading NATO members, with the French government taking the lead;
*the U.S. military has little credibility in the wake of the Abu Ghraib torture expose, especially since the same command personnel are still in place both in Washington, D.C. and Baghdad;
*Colin Powell, whose letter defines the U.S. military role has little credibility in the international community, and especially in the UN Security Council, after it was exposed that he delivered a lying, inaccurate, amateurish diatribe against Iraq on the question of an "imminent" threat from Saddam Hussein's WMD, in his February, 2003 briefing to the UN.
Kurds Object To UN Resolution
The two major Kurdish leaders in Iraq, Masoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, issued an open message to the UN Security Council, warning that if the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) was not regarded as a valid constitution with the special Kurdish rights in it acknowledged, they would withdraw their representatives from the Iraqi provisional government. Barzani stated that "those who are calling for abandoning the TAL will have to be take responsibility for all the consequences regarding the unity of Iraq," and threatened that abandoning that "law" would endanger the unity of the country. He also said that this "would put in jeopardy the fate of the Kurdish people," and that "it was this law that kept the Kurds recently within a unified, federal and parliamentarian Iraq." This was interpreted widely as a threat of secession.
In response to this Kurdish threat and in support of Al-Sistani, thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad on June 8 before the final UNSC vote began to show their support of Al-Sistani and rejection of the inclusion of the TAL in the resolution.
For the time being, on June 9, interim Prime Minister Allawi told the Kurds that his temporary government will respect the TAL until elections bring in a new Iraqi government.
Mainstream U.S. Church Leaders Opposing Backing For Sharon's Violence
On June 1, a letter to the Bush Administration, was delivered to Secretary of State Colin Powell personally, by a group of 26 religious leaders Christians, Jews, and Muslims called the "National Interreligious Leadership Delegation in Support of the Road Map to Peace in the Middle East," who represent over 100 million members. The White House has been consistently blocking any direct meetings with Bush by leaders of mainline churches (even Bush's own nominal affiliation, United Methodists); instead, the Christian Zionist rightwing are given regular White House audiences.
This meeting with Powell followed up on a November 2003 letter to President Bush, and a Dec. 2, 2003, news conference in Washington, D.C. On May 7, 2004, fifty leaders of mainline religious entities, delivered a co-signed letter to President Bush, specifically objecting to the Israeli barrier wall.
A statement released June 1 by the group said, "Unless the United States makes the Road Map and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations an urgent priority now, the cycles of violence will jeopardize prospects for a two-state solution further alienate our European and Mideast Arab allies, exacerbate conflict in Iraq, and increase the terrorist threat to the United States."
Some of the other points made in the June 1 letter, principally calling for sending a U.S. envoy immediately:
* Objection to "the destructive impact of Israel's settlement policy, separating village from village, confiscating more and more Palestinian land."
* Need for a U.S. commitment "to a negotiated end of military occupation by Israel"
* Condemning the use of F-16 fighter jets against civilians, as "unacceptable and must be challenged by the U.S. government."
* Call for a "negotiated sharing of the Holy Land and the city of Jerusalem." It would be destructive to moveas called for by Congress, the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem."
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