BAGHDAD—Hah! That was interesting. Apparently there will be no delay after all, because the chairman of the constitutional committee, Sheikh Humam al-Hammoudi, appeared on Arabiya this morning saying the constitution will be delivered on time. So much for my previous post, but damn, the AP and others (for a while) sure seemed sure there would be a delay and when I called the embassy for comment, they didn't sound very confident and hedged all their comments.
It's increasingly likely the Americans, once they heard word of the proposed delay, kicked things into overdrive to head it off. The new ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, is known as charmer who's willing to be an arm-twister when it's needed, and I'm sure a few Iraqis walked out of his office yesterday evening rubbing their elbows and grimacing.
Technorati Tags: Current Affairs, Iraq, Journalism, News and Politics
Iraq is doomed.
So the Americans have a major influence on the Iraqi government afterall :-)
Mark
Gitmo Kangaroo Court Charade
http://www.theage.com.au/news/war-on-terror/hicks-facing-rigged-trial-say-exprosecutors/2005/08/01/1122748579667.html
A delay will not make any difference, we are waiting to see what they will come up with, hopefully something worth to read and vote for! A constitution that could be good bases for new modern Iraq not something that will drag us to the back, which is our situation for the last 30 years, stick to an anti-development backwarding phase… We are just sick and tired from these prepared boring scenarios.
I think the situation with the Constitution is extremely worrying. Your post titled “Iraq’s rush to failure” is spot on.
Obviously there is extreme pressure being mounted by the US to fast track the Constition by the 15 Aug deadline. I am floored by their short sightedness on this, and a fast food Constitution is surely going to come back and bite them on the bum. Besides the fact the most contentious issues are still undecided as you point out, the outstanding chapter to be negotiated concerns the judicial system. How do you write something so crucial in a matter of two weeks?
Speaking from my experience as a South African, it took our country officially, (not counting previous “talks about talks” that started in about 1989), from 1991- 1993/94 to negotiate an interim Constitution. Then it took until Feb 1997 until the final Constitution was signed into law. There was also a proper process of public consultation to legistimise the Constitution, which I’m not confident will be truly possible in Iraq given the security situation, and infrastructure. Our Constitution was the product of protracted negotiations which led to the final document being considered legitimate, credible and accepted by most, if not all South Africans.
The reason I’m giving this comparison is not to “boast” about South Africa, but to make the point in the strongest of terms how I have been able to see from my own experience of a radical political transition, just how important a legitimate, trusted and loved Constitution can be. It is something that we can all take pride in, but more importantly it has been the guiding light and foundation of our successful transition to democracy. Not a week, just about, goes by without a court case being referred to the Constitutional Court. And when the Constitutional Court makes it’s final decision we can all feel confident that justice has been done.
Even if Iraq continues to negotiate the draft permanent Constitution after the general elections, it means that they will start off on very shaky ground, not a good solid foundation as we had with our interim Consitution and which proved to be such a vital element of our transition to democracy. This could come back to haunt the US.
A third member of the US Military Commission prosecuting team at Quantanamo has quit. Process obviously stinks!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1428749.htm
Bronwyn,
Thankyou for your post. That was one of the most pertinent, relevant and sensible things I’ve read in a long time.
Javi