Posted on 05/20/2006 5:28:04 PM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4
One of the subtle consequences of the formation of the Iraqi cabinet after months of tortuous negotiations is that it is now the internationally recognized legal and permanent goverment of Iraq. The BBC has a roundup of quotes which indicate this new status.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister: Our first step will be to invite the Iraqi prime minister or foreign minister to a meeting [of EU foreign ministers]. The EU troika (Germany, Britain and France) will travel to Baghdad when the security situation permits.
George W Bush, US President: Iraqis now have a fully constitutional government, marking the end of a democratic transitional process in Iraq that has been both difficult and inspiring. Iraq's new leaders know the period ahead will be filled with great challenge. But they also know that they - and their great country - will not face them alone. The United States and freedom-loving nations around the world will stand with Iraq.
The United Nations News Centre has this statement to the press.
20 May 2006 – United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and his senior envoy to Iraq today welcomed the announcement of the formation of the new Iraqi Government, and urged that the process be completed in order to consolidate stability.
“The Secretary-General wishes the new Government every success in confronting the enormous challenges facing Iraq,” a spokesman for Mr. Annan said in a statement released in New York. “He hopes that the process of forming a broad-based and inclusive government will be completed as soon as possible, so that it will be able to quickly address the crucial issues of national reconciliation, security, the rule of law, respect for human rights, reconstruction and development.”
The Secretary-General also paid tribute to the “courage and determination that the Iraqi people have shown despite the ongoing violence,” urging them to seize the opportunity offered by the successful establishment of a broad-based and inclusive Government, and come together to support it and build the foundations of a united, peaceful and prosperous Iraq.
He reiterated the UN's commitment “to fully support the new Government and the people of Iraq,” a pledge echoed by his Special Representative, Ashraf Qazi.
That's not to say that Iraq's government is as stable as Canada's or Australia's or even at par, in terms of effective internal sovereignty, with a moderately successful Third World country. But it is apparently now as legally respectable as Mexico, Belgium or the Sudan. People used to tramping the woods are familiar with the concept of a "watershed", an often used metaphor whose real physical meaning is the contour of high ground that separates one river system from another. Anyone accustomed to staring at a topo map and having it pop out in his head in visualized 3D knows what this means. On one side of a watershed the water flows one way and on the other it flows the other way. From this point on, barring a convulsion in the landscape, America's role in Iraq will diminish and those of Iraqis increase, perhaps slowly like a rivulet beginning its long journey to the river basin, then with inexorably gathering strength until it is finally ignorant of its beginnings.
A great many problems remain. The Washington Post reported on the new government in these terms.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- On a day heralded as a new beginning for Iraq, many Iraqis were divided on whether the newly inaugurated national unity government will be able to curtail sectarian violence in the country. "We have been waiting for a genuine change in Iraqi life since the fall of Saddam's regime in 2003, but the security ... has deteriorated from worse to worst," said Zakyaa Nasir, 52, in the southern city of Amarah. Her husband was an Iraqi soldier killed during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
The actual role of the United States in resolving these security issues will be great. But as a matter of principle, the troubles are now an internal matter of a sovereign Iraqi government; and whether or not the problems are successfully resolved is ultimately a challenge that Iraqis will have to meet. They may fail or succeed, but it will increasingly no longer be America's responsibility. Some will argue that it must needs remain America's responsibility, because the US toppled Saddam. Yet at some point in the process, if the words "Iraqi Government" or "sovereignty" are not to remain wholly fictive, the circumstance of US responsibility must diminish and those of the Iraqis increase. Legally at least, that time has come. At some imperceptible point on a ridge a watershed is reached; and water begins to flow another way.
VI DAY
Bush's Fault...
A great man with a vision has led the Country of Iraq from the 7th century into the 21st.
It is now up to the "They the people" of Iraq to squash the terrorist in that country and reap the benefits of freedom and Democracy.
Not yet. But a watershed has been reached.
On this remarkable occasion, the WaPo of course had to start with a quote from someone worried about the "violence." The MSM is disgusting; they'll do anything to try to diminish this wonderful accomplishment.
And in your disgust I hope you will make note of it and explain their treachery to all within your circle of influence. If enough of us did that, the WaPo would have to change or go under.
Over 200 Iraqi tribal leaders will meet in Baghdad on Wednesday may 10th to sign an honor compact to denounce and reject terrorism and sectarian violence. Tribal leaders announced they will meet in Khademiah Baghdad on Wednesday May 10th at a conference. This conference will result in an honor compact obliging Iraqi tribes to cooperate amongst each other and the authorities to protect their members from terrorist attacks, and to help with national unity and condemning sectarian violence.
This is also remarkable, and should greatly increase the intelligence on terrorists. Either that, or these tribal leaders will just "protect their members from terrorists attacks" on their own, and all we'll hear about is a body count of terrorists.
there are politicians and journalists who have staked their entire reputations on Iraq ending up a failure, and anything less cuts straight to the heart of their credibility. Regardless of how events turn on the ground, there will still be those intent on recording history according to their own realities, a world where victory and defeat are no longer mutually exclusive concepts and where pessimistic cynicism rules the day. -- C.S. Scott @ Security Watchtower
Even those who were opposed to the invasion of Iraq should recognise that this is a whole new battle — between the values of a liberal civil society and nihilism, sometimes Islamic but always nihilism.
The goal is an independent Iraq with a representative government. Part of that goal is to prevent the most bloody and reactionary gangs of killers from destroying the country — and the future of the Middle East.
ping
This is a magnificent achievement.
Our unit had steeled itself for a brutal year-long experience; something along the lines of Tour of Duty. Yet the reality of what we experienced was closer to a bizarre mix of CSI, CHiPs, and Dragnet, with a nod to Iraqi Vice and Magnum, P.R. thrown in for good measure.
Sure, there were the midnight raids and hit & run attacks, the intermittent IEDs and too-close-for-comfort sniper fire. Over the previous nine months across the north of Iraq our brigade has suffered over 230 wounded and lost 14 soldiers -- 10 to hostile fire. But despite what you see on television, the following actions were far more commonplace:
Explosive residue testing. Crime scene photography. Eyewitness sworn statements. Evidence collection. Forensics "cleanup" (of Kentucky Fried Terrorists). Onsite lineups. Stake-outs, snitches, and sting operations. Electronic surveillance. Prisoner transport. Route overwatch. Counter-propaganda distribution. Get-out-the-vote drives. Vehicle checkpoints. Dismounted foot patrols. Curfew enforcement. Traffic direction. Ballot integrity escorts. Bootleg gasoline interdiction. If we could have found one, we may have even “raided” a speakeasy or two.
Technically, it's still a war. Troops are still in contact, and the enemy is still out there. But one can't help but feel at times like a cop with just a really bad beat.
It's amazing to me that these people are of the same political party as a former President who once said:
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
Thanks for the ping. How's it going where you're at? Stay safe.
The Washington Post reported on the new government in these terms.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- On a day heralded as a new beginning for Iraq, many Iraqis were divided on whether the newly inaugurated national unity government will be able to curtail sectarian violence in the country. "We have been waiting for a genuine change in Iraqi life since the fall of Saddam's regime in 2003, but the security ... has deteriorated from worse to worst," said Zakyaa Nasir, 52, in the southern city of Amarah. Her husband was an Iraqi soldier killed during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
Leave it to The Washington Post!
delegitimization of the IRaqi government will continue unabated. Some will continue to object to the ends. The two things Ahmedinajad made clear in his rambling letter/declaration of war were that (1) liberal democracy was a failure and that (2) it was doomed to the scrap heap of history, with a little of his help to boot. Many people, not all of whom are Muslims, agree with him and will act in concert with him on this matter.
Others will take issue with the means. Sure, it's a liberal democracy, they'll say, but it is an illegitimate one because it was forced upon an occupied people, many of whom met their maker because of our heavy-handed, unilateral, cowboy ways. They'd be happier if the UN had created a provisional government that lasted for 15+ years.
There will also be those seeking to delegitimize by pointing to the apparent ineffectiveness of the new Iraqi government. They'll claim that the government is a sham because it fails in one of its most basic duties- providing security for its citizenry. They will not apply this standard to any other country however as it would provide the pretext for intervention.
And should security improve, they'll move the goalposts, i.e. they'll complain about irregular electricity, lack of clean drinking water, the number of miles of unpaved roads, whether oil production is lower than it was before or immediately after Saddam's fall, and how many schoolboys got beat up on the way home.
And as the SAddam trial continues, expect complaints here too. Experts will be trotted out to proclaim that the trial falls beneath internationally-accepted standards of jurisprudence, blah blah blah. If the judge is too soft, they'll take to calling him the "Judge Ito" of Iraq.
And when Saddam hangs, some will see nothing but Rovian machinations designed to boost the sagging approval ratings of the President.
My expectation is that the International Left, much of the US media, many prominent Democrats, and a grab bag of freedom-hatin' governments and peoples the world over will take to criticizing the legitimate Iraqi government with the same ferocity that they now criticize the US government. The latter is, for some time, going to be called by many a stooge of the latter.
For the above named groups not to do the aforementioned things would be to conceded victory to Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney and to legitimize the Bush Doctrine. That can't be allowed to happen.
Address of the President on the Fall of Rome Formation of the New Iraqi Government
My Friends:
Yesterday, on June fourth, 1944, Rome fell to American and Allied troops. The first of the Axis capitals is now our ally. One up and two to go!
It is perhaps significant that the first of these capitals to fall should have the longest history of all of them. The story of Rome Baghdad goes back to the time of the foundations of our civilization. We can still see there monuments of the time when Rome Mesopotamia and the Romans Assyrians controlled the whole of the then known world. That, too, is significant, for the United Nations States are determined that in the future no one city and no one race will be able to control the whole of the world.
The Iraqis, too, forswearing a partnership in the Axis which they never desired, have sent their troops to join us in our battles against the trespassers on their soil.
The prospect of the liberation of Rome Formation of the New Iraqi Government meant enough to Hitler bin Laden and his generals minions to induce them to fight desperately at great cost of men and materials and with great sacrifice to their crumbling Eastern line and to their Western front.
But Rome Baghdad is of course more than a military objective. For this (a) quarter century the Italian Iraqi people were enslaved. They were degraded by the rule of Mussolini Saddam from Rome Baghdad. They will mark its liberation new government with deep emotion.
Our victory comes at an excellent time, while our Allied forces are poised for another strike at western Europe Iran -- and while the armies of other Nazi soldiers jihadis nervously await our assault.
From a strictly military standpoint, we had long ago accomplished certain of the main objectives of our Italian campaign -- the control of the islands -- the major islands -- the control of the sea lanes of the Mediterranean to shorten our combat and supply lines, and the capture of the airports, such as the great airports of Foggia, south of Rome, from which we have struck telling blows on the continent -- the whole of the continent all the way up to the Russian front.
It would be unwise to inflate in our own minds the military importance of the capture of Rome. We shall have to push through a long period of greater effort and fiercer fighting before we get into Germany itself. The Germans have retreated thousands of miles, all the way from the gates of Cairo, through Libya and Tunisia and Sicily and Southern Italy. They have suffered heavy losses, but not great enough yet to cause collapse.
Germany The Jihadis has not yet been driven to surrender. Germany The Jihadis hasve not yet been driven to the point where she they will be unable to recommence world conquest a generation hence.
Therefore, the victory still lies some distance ahead. That distance will be covered in due time -- have no fear of that. But it will be tough and it will be costly, as I have told you many, many times.
In Italy Iraq the people had lived so long under the corrupt rule of Mussolini Saddam that, in spite of the tinsel at the top -- you have seen the pictures of him -- their economic condition had grown steadily worse. Our troops have found starvation, malnutrition, disease, a deteriorating education and lowered public health -- all by-products of the Fascist Baathist misrule.
The task of the Allies in occupation has been stupendous. We have had to start at the very bottom, assisting local governments to reform on democratic lines. We have had to give them bread to replace that which was stolen out of their mouths by the Germans Jihadis. We have had to make it possible for the Italians Iraqis to raise and use their own local crops. We have to help them cleanse their schools of Fascist Baathist trappings.
I think the American people as a whole approve the salvage of these human beings, who are only now learning to walk in a new atmosphere of freedom.
Some of us may let our thoughts run to the financial cost of it. Essentially it is what we can call a form of relief. And at the same time, we hope that this relief will be an investment for the future -- an investment that will pay dividends by eliminating Fascism, by (and) ending any Italian desires to start another war of aggression in the future. And that means that they are dividends which justify such an investment, because they are additional supports for world peace.
The Italian people are capable of self-government. We do not lose sight of their virtues as a peace-loving nation.
No great effort like this can be a hundred percent perfect, but the batting average is very, very high.
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