Talabani Calls Iraq Report 'Dangerous'

Las Vegas Sun ^ | December 10, 2006 at 5:50:18 PST | KIM GAMEL ASSOCIATED PRESS

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -

The Iraqi president said Sunday the bipartisan U.S. report calling for a new approach to the war offered dangerous recommendations that would undermine his country's sovereignty and were "an insult to the people of Iraq."

President Jalal Talabani was the most senior government official to take a stand against the Iraq Study Group report, which has come under criticism from leaders of the governing Shiite and Kurdish parties.

He said the report "is not fair, is not just, and it contains some very dangerous articles which undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and the constitution."

He singled out the report's call for the approval of a de-Baathification law that could allow thousands of officials from Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath party to return to their jobs.

The Kurdish leader also criticized the call for increasing the number of U.S. troops embedded to train Iraqis from 3,000 to 4,000 currently to 10,000 to 20,000.

"It is not respecting the desire of the Iraqi people to control its army and to be able to rearm and train Iraqi forces under the leadership of the Iraqi government," he said.

He said the Iraqi government planned to send a letter to President Bush "expressing our views about the main issues" in the report, although he would not elaborate.

An aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday the Iraqi leader had reservations about the report but has yet to form a detailed response.

Sunni Arabs said they agree with the assessment of Iraq's problems in the report by the commission headed by former Republican Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, but not the proposals to fix them.

Talabani said Iraqis were not intimidated by the report's threat to reduce political, military or economic support if the government in Baghdad cannot make substantial progress. The report said Iraqi leaders have failed to deliver better security or political compromises that would reduce violence, and it implied that a four-month joint U.S.-Iraqi military campaign to reduce violence in Baghdad is hopeless.

"I believe that President George Bush is a brave and committed man and he is adamant to support the Iraqi government until they've reached success," he said. He said setting conditions was "an insult to the people of Iraq."

Bush has given the report a lukewarm reception and said he will weigh its recommendations along with other possible courses of action.

The recommendations, which are not binding, also have met opposition from some in the United States for the suggestion to withdraw nearly all combat brigades from Iraq by early 2008.

Talabani said the date was realistic if the Iraqi government is given more responsibility for security.

"If we can agree with the U.S. government to give us the right of organizing, training, arming our armed forces, it will be possible in 2008 (for U.S.-led forces) to start to leave Iraq and to go back home," he said.

Kurds have been the strongest critics so far of the report and Talabani said he backed a statement by the president of the Kurdish region who objected to recommendations on sharing the oil wealth, reinstating Saddam loyalists in their old government jobs and giving Iraq's neighbors a role in efforts to end the violence.

A statement by the governmental De-Baathification Commission also denounced the Baker-Hamilton report as "wrong and untrue" for its assertion that purging the government of Baathists robbed state institutions of professionals.

"If you read this report, one would think that it is written for a young, small colony that they are imposing these conditions on," Talabani said. "We are a sovereign country."

In one point of agreement, however, Talabani said Iraq already has initiated talks with Syria and Iran on gaining help in tackling the problems facing his country, and he plans to visit Damascus soon.

Syria, meanwhile, warned that the United States would face hatred and failure in the Mideast if the White House rejects the report's recommendations.

Syria's ruling party's Al-Baath newspaper urged Bush to take the Iraq Study Group's report seriously because it would "diminish hatred for the U.S. in region."

"But if it failed to pick up the positive signals either in the report or in the Syrian welcome of what the report has contained, it (the U.S.) would remain drowned in the quagmire and the situation in the region and the entire world would remain unstable," the newspaper said.

--

[Sword_Svalbardt]

The report was hardly bipartisan. What the democrats understand, and wanted to achieve would be to plant a seed of mistrust among our foreign allies, because the democrat leadership is extremely inept - see James Baker, under the heading of "Loser."

[silverleaf]

This is a good thing.

Jimmah Carter scared Anwar Sadat so bad he took matters into his own hands to forge a relationship between a major Arab state and Israel...that led to Camp David.

Maybe the ISG and US democrats will scare moderate Iraqis and other moderate Arab players into appreciating the opportunity they have been handed by our President's daring, and our military's bravery and sacrifice (and also that of Blair/Britain), and will seriously get to work straightening out their own destiny -

instead of wallowing in the dismal failed strategy of arab nation-building by bashing America and Israel.

[cake_crumb]

Only a lunatic with a single digit IQ could honestly agree with the report OR with the extremely limited "new" direction the Democrats want Iraq to take.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the BBC:

Iraqi leader criticises US report

***********************************************

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has criticised some of the main findings of a high-level US report calling for a change of strategy in Iraq.

Mr Talabani rejected the Iraq Study Group's proposal to withdraw US troops if Iraq failed to strengthen security.

He also objected to including former regime members in reconciliation talks.

His comments come as outgoing US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise visit to Iraq to thank US troops for their efforts in the war.

Mr Talabani had previously praised the sections of the ISG report urging talks with neighbouring countries including Iran and Syria.

[The report] contains dangerous articles which undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and its constitution Jalal Talabani

However, on Sunday he dismissed the group's call for the US to reduce its support for the Iraqi government if there was no substantial progress towards political reconciliation and security.

This, he said, was like treating Iraq as a colony on which the US could impose conditions, not a sovereign country.

'Interesting idea'

Speaking at his Baghdad residence, Mr Talabani said: "I think that the Baker-Hamilton report is not fair and not just, and it contains dangerous articles which undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and its constitution."

He also said he objected to including representatives of the former regime under Saddam Hussein in any attempts at reconciliation.

Involving members of the Baath party would be "against the long struggle of the Iraqi people against dictatorship", he said.

Sunni politicians in Iraq welcomed that recommendation but the president of the Kurdish autonomous region in the north described the report's conclusions as unrealistic and inappropriate.

In an exclusive BBC interview, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faysal warned of the danger of the violence in Iraq spreading across the Middle East.

He described holding a regional conference in Saudi Arabia as an "interesting idea" but said he had urged Syria and Iran not to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs.

According to Prince Saud, the priority now was for the elements of resistance inside Iraq to be "brought into the political sphere".

'Seeing the task through'

Mr Talabani's comments follow a visit to Iraq by outgoing US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who will be succeeded on 18 December by former CIA chief Robert Gates.

The consequences of failure are unacceptable - the enemy must be defeated Donald Rumsfeld

Mr Rumsfeld addressed 1,200 US soldiers and marines at a military base in Anbar province - an insurgent stronghold, saying US forces should not quit the war until the enemy is defeated.

"For the past six years, I have had the opportunity and, I would say, the privilege, to serve with the greatest military on the face of the Earth," Mr Rumsfeld said in a speech at al-Asad military base.

"We feel great urgency to protect the American people from another 9/11 or a 9/11 times two or three.

"At the same time, we need to have the patience to see this task through to success. The consequences of failure are unacceptable. The enemy must be defeated," he was quoted as saying on the Pentagon website.

The defence secretary also met US service personnel in Balad, 80km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, it said.

Mr Rumsfeld left for Iraq on Friday, a defence department spokesman said, after he had given an emotional farewell speech to Pentagon staff.

[teeman8r]

perhaps the iraqis need to perform their own study group... freeper recommendations requested...

#1 Secure the borders... anyone or thing not coming through specified iraqi check points will be obliterated by american cruise missiles aided by amrican electronic surveillance.

#2 suspend militias. until security forces can be trained, unregistered militiamen must be regulated.

#3 terrorists will be given a date with allah immediately.

#4 all syrian or iranians must go back home.

just a start.

teeman

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Very interesting note from CQ:

So Much For Negotiations With 'Insurgents'

*******************************AN EXCERPT ************************

The Times of London reveals that the American consulate in Iraq spent two months in high-level negotiations with the insurgencies in Iraq, including some groups previously thought to be associated with al-Qaeda. The talks collapsed earlier this year when Nouri al-Maliki, sympathetic to Iran, formed the government -- a move which the insurgents saw as a betrayal:

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Closing comment from CQ link above:

The ISG panel didn't note any of this. Khalilzad comes up once in the ISG repot -- in a listing of embassy personnel. Ansar al-Sunnah gets zero mentions. It seems that we keep discovering how little their contingent actually discovered during their study period, and how useless their slate of recommendations are.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

fyi

[RightWhale]

Things your best friend won't tell you . . .

[Sword_Svalbardt]

Because the democrats only focus at home - they believe the U.N. has all the answers. We know the correct answer to that statement.

The UN is the reason why a lot of these problems exist - because of poor decisions through poor leadership, and through exceptionally poor communication skills. Poor communications skills is exemplary of poor leadership skills.

SS

[cookcounty]

"#1 Secure the borders... anyone or thing not coming through specified iraqi check points will be obliterated by american cruise missiles aided by amrican electronic surveillance. "

Takes a lot of manpower. Iraq's borders are longer than the the US-Mexico border. But you're right, it would be helpful if the destruction of unauthorized convoys at the borders became a regular occurance.

[Laverne]

What is most interesting is that our enemies (Iran and Syria) have both blessed the report, while our allies (Iraq, Isreal, others) question it. Why does that not surprise me? Will the report do more damage than good? I guess that depends on how the President accepts/regects the proposals. Shame on Baker and Hamilton for not recognizing the impact this would have around the world with their public statements. It just makes it that much harder for our troops and our President, when the enemies both within and without embrace their study, and our friends reject it.

[freeangel]

"is not fair, is not just"

It also isn't fair that the US is expected to come in to countries to save the hides of people who aren't worth saving because they won't stand up for themselves.

[Marine_Uncle]

Thanks for the ping E. Perhaps one thing of interest that most of us would liked resolved is. When is the Butcher going to feal the bristles of the hemp rope around his rotten neck, seconds prior to having some guy pull the lever.
Once he and his immediate group of assholes are swinging in the breeze, perhaps a lot of insurgents aligned with the Baathists will resolve in their mind the gig is up.
Izzat Ibrahim will ultimately be caught and put on the water board. If my memory serves me correctly, we are soon going to be beyond the thirty day limit set by the judges for any requests for a retrial etc.. And they made it clear they would ignore such paper work at this point anyway. So the spider hole specialist should be swinging from from a rope soon. It could help resolve once and for all any ambitions/dreams of the Baathists somehow getting back into power.

[teeman8r]

not as much manpower as might be expected... lots of types of airborne surveillance can map everything crossing into iraq where it shouldn't be and then the sorties to wipe it out...

this is what maliki should be telling iran and syria...

as for our borders... plenty of americans need work, put them working on thewalll and manning the surveillance...

teeman

[cookcounty]

Maybe so, the good news today is that Iraqi parliamentarians are rebelling against al-Maliki and trying to re-form the coalition in order to go after Mookie.