13 Points Agreed for New Iraqi Government

Sky News ^ | 04/15/2003 | Sky News

[Retrofire]

REBUILDING PLAN AGREED

Free Iraqis have drawn up a 13-point plan to rebuild their country following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The plan was agreed at US-hosted talks at Ur, the birthplace of the biblical prophet Abraham.

The delegates also voted to meet again in 10 days' time.

In a statement they said a future Iraqi government must be democratic, no leader must be imposed from outside, and the Baath party must be dissolved.

As the meeting began, hundreds marched through the streets of nearby Nasiriyah protesting about US involvement in their country's future.

They were concerned that the leading Shiite organisation in Iraq had boycotted the meeting.

The talks were the first to be held since the collapse of Saddam's regime.

They were chaired by retired US General Jay Garner, the man given the job of running Iraq until an interim authority is formed.

"What better place than the birthplace of civilization could you have for the beginning of a free Iraq?" he asked.

[Retrofire]

Coolio. One meeting down with no bloodshed...800 to go! =)

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[COURAGE]

"Their failure in this regard is abysmal. They want to tell the world changes thought - as a matter of fact, they do not respect the world, they want to tell taxpayers and the domestic public to keep them deceived. We will embroil them, confuse them and keep them in the quagmire. They have begun to tell more lies so that they might continue with the perpetration of their crimes. May they be accursed."

[Camerican]

Freaking shiite islamo-fascists. First their representatives boycott the meeting due to the U.S. presence, and then they protest that they're not represented at the meeting. These people are so completely screwed up in the head, it's hard to believe we will ever be able to work with them. Hopefully the rest of the Iraqis that participated have sounder minds and that a bona fide alliance among them can be achieved.

[RetiredArmy]

Did Baghdad Bob cover this as a CNN reporter?

[demosthenes the elder]

on this note: does anyone know anyone who can translate the original US Constitution into clear and congruent Arabic, so that we can send it as a gift (and suggestion) to the Iraqi people?

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Shiite for brains!!

[TheDon]

"Free Iraqis have drawn up a 13-point plan to rebuild their country following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The plan was agreed at US-hosted talks at Ur, the birthplace of the biblical prophet Abraham. "

I always find it amusing that reporters never think to provide the "13-point plan" in their stories.

[goldstategop]

Not bad for a first day's work. The Iraqis are doing the work themselves. Medea Benjamin Need To Hand Iraq Over To The UN Alert! ;-)

[DeuceTraveler]

"Freaking shiite islamo-fascists. First their representatives boycott the meeting due to the U.S. presence, and then they protest that they're not represented at the meeting. These people are so completely screwed up in the head, it's hard to believe we will ever be able to work with them. Hopefully the rest of the Iraqis that participated have sounder minds and that a bona fide alliance among them can be achieved."

I wonder how much influence Iran has on that group...

[browardchad]

Whoa! Further down in the linked article:

The Iraqi groups represented included Kurds, Summis (sic) and Shiites, and others who have spent years in exile. All were specially invited by the US.

The Shiite faction that boycotted and demonstrated is the Iranian-backed Iraq Islamic Revolutionary Council (IIRC). The more moderate Ayatollah Ali Mohammed Sistani faction attended the meeting. (Sistani issued the Fatwa telling his followers not to impede the U.S. forces in the first week of the war). The potential secular leader of the Sistani faction, Khoi, was assassinated last week by followers of the IIRC.

Hopefully the rest of the Iraqis that participated have sounder minds and that a bona fide alliance among them can be achieved.

Among the "rest of the Iraqis" were the Sunnis. Saddam's Baathist party and Osama Bin Laden are Sunnis, as are most of the corrupt Arab leaders. The Shiites are the Iraqis that were slaughtered after the first Gulf War, and some believe that the historical DOS preference for Sunni dictators (e.g. Saudi Arabia) had a lot to do with our looking the other way.

The situation in Iraq, and the factions involved, couldn't be more complicated; it will take some mighty fancy footwork (and a big stick) to make them cooperate, not to mention some arm wrestling between the DOS and the DOD.

[MattAMiller]

Amazing isn't it? What part of your brain do they remove when you graduate from Journalism school?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[Terpfen]

I second that.

[Wisconsin]

So what were the 13 points?

[Fletcher J]

Absolutely - we have a system of government which has worked quite well for us for over 200 years. Why not set up an Iraqi government in the same way? Take a copy of the US constitution, and everywhere it says "United States of America", substitute the word "Iraq".

Make all the laws match current US federal laws as a start.

End of story. It's that simple. If that's not what they want, then they would have the democractic vote to change it. I'm sure, unfortunately, that they'll emmediately use that opportunity to screw up their new government just as badly as everything else the arabs do. Regardless, even after a dozen years of screwing things up, the Iraqi's would still have better system than any other arab state.

Of course, I think that if they really want to be ultra-chic, they should rename the country "Assyria". That would be cool...

[RightWhale]

There are 3 points anyway, maybe 4 if the next meeting is one of the points. The 13 points are a press release, so they should be available soon.

[Centurion2000]

Of course, I think that if they really want to be ultra-chic, they should rename the country "Assyria". That would be cool...

No, they'd do that only if they wanted to give a manufacturing boost to globe makers ... even then Mesopotamia would be kewler.