Good news from iraq!

[Leet Eriksson]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/4374822.stm

Well not really good news actually. Seems like the voting didn't work out so well, and the constitution will remain unchanged.. i still say the consitution is still decent.. eh...

[Tribesman]

Good news indeed , now onto Decembers election .
the constitution will remain unchanged..
No that is a preliminary constitution to allow for elections , just another step , then they start work on a full constitution .

[Leet Eriksson]

Good news indeed , now onto Decembers election .
the constitution will remain unchanged..
No that is a preliminary constitution to allow for elections , just another step , then they start work on a full constitution .

Now thats good news, whew.. tbh the consitution is a piece of crap.

[Tribesman]

tbh the consitution is a piece of crap.
No its great
Its what you get when you set artificial deadlines to diametrically opposed viewpoints and have a third viewpoint that is appointed not elected and doesn't really want to be there anyway but know they are going to get really shafted if they are not .
Now if the Sunni Arab community really participate in the next elections they will have more seats than the Kurds , though of course the Kurds still have their veto .
I honestly cannot see how it is going to work at all . They most likely outcome is ......but hey this is a good news topic right

[Idaho]

There are really only three likely options for Iraq - bloody civil war, bodged partition a la Palestine or central brutal dictator.

[Xiahou]

No that is a preliminary constitution to allow for elections , just another step , then they start work on a full constitution .

I think you're behind a few months. The last elections were based on the preliminary constitution- this was for real.

[Tribesman]

I think you're behind a few months.
Ahhhhh...ummmmm.... nope .
You are a few weeks behind , it was one of the last minute compromises to get the Sunni arabs to accept putting forward the document and break the deadlock as they coundn't carry on the postponements indefinately .

[Dâriûsh]

There are really only three likely options for Iraq - bloody civil war, bodged partition a la Palestine or central brutal dictator.

Congratulations to the soon-to-be Republic of Kurdistan, the Islamic Republic of al-Sadrstan, and the equally Islamic Republic of Tikrit-Ramădī!

[Tribesman]

[B]the Islamic Republic of al-Sadrstan,/B]
Don't you mean Sistanistan ? Sadr is too young , lacks the standing and the neccasary "cough" backing .
Now if his dad was still alive maybe .

[Dâriûsh]

Don't you mean Sistanistan ? Sadr is too young , lacks the standing and the neccasary "cough" backing .
Now if his dad was still alive maybe .

Much to the Iranian clergy’s displeasure, Ayatollah al-Sistani is adherent to the more gentle and inaudible clergy.

Al-Sadr, however, seems more inclined to follow in the footsteps of the Dark Wizards of Tehran.

[Xiahou]

I think you're behind a few months.
Ahhhhh...ummmmm.... nope .
You are a few weeks behind , it was one of the last minute compromises to get the Sunni arabs to accept putting forward the document and break the deadlock as they coundn't carry on the postponements indefinately .

You'd better read some different news with your coffee- apparently what you've been reading isnt any good.

The compromise dealt with the amendment process- not writing a new constitution.

[Tribesman]

The compromise dealt with the amendment process- not writing a new constitution.
Ahem ......then they start work on a full constitution .
The one they have is a work in progress . Several rather major points could not be agreed upon so were left out entirely , for future negociations after the elections , other were left open for final agreement on the specific wording .
The compromise dealt with putting forward an unfinished document .
More coffee Dear ????

[Xiahou]

By that logic, the US Constitution is a work in progress... They have a constitution, and yes, it can be ammended. They're not starting work on a "full constitution".

More coffee Dear ????

No thanks, I dont think Im drinking your brand.

[Tribesman]

By that logic, the US Constitution is a work in progress...
Slightly different there Xiahou , the US constitution was put forward as a completed document was it not ? It was then amended as time progressed and things changed .
The Iraqi Constitution was not put forward as a completed document , it was a preliminary one put forward to allow the vote to go forward so it could be finished after new elections as a full constitution .

No thanks, I dont think Im drinking your brand.
Try it , you may like it

[Xiahou]

Actually, many states had a big problem with the Constitution not enumerating protected rights and approved it with the idea that a Bill of Rights be added afterwards- thus the first 10 amendments.

So, basically, some people weren't satisfied with the Constitution, but approved it anyhow with the intent of revisiting it later to make changes. Sound familiar at all?

Try it , you may like it

Nah, I'll just roast my own.

[Ice]

Congratulations to the soon-to-be Republic of Kurdistan, the Islamic Republic of al-Sadrstan, and the equally Islamic Republic of Tikrit-Ramădī!

As long as Bush is in office that won't happen. One way or another if you catch my drift. I'm not saying it's good, it just what will happen.

[solypsist]

even I found this article's intro a little too maudlin for my tastes...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/25/ira....ap/index.html

[Tribesman]

Sound familiar at all?
No , nothing has been inserted into the text of the US Constitution to fill in blank spaces or to alter the original wording , any amendments are appended to the original . Completely different .

As long as Bush is in office that won't happen.
Ghost ;
Isn't Iraq a free soveriegn state deciding its own future through the democratic will of it population then ?

[Adrian II]

Much to the Iranian clergy’s displeasure, Ayatollah al-Sistani is adherent to the more gentle and inaudible clergy.

Al-Sadr, however, seems more inclined to follow in the footsteps of the Dark Wizards of Tehran.

Doesn't Al-Sadr have a much larger political and social network thanks to his Dad and related family members? It seems to me (and I am open to any suggestion or correction) that he has more clout with the Sjiite masses than the aloof, Farsi-accented Sistani who preaches, and - it seems - all too often practices, withdrawal from the world.

[Dâriûsh]

Doesn't Al-Sadr have a much larger political and social network thanks to his Dad and related family members? It seems to me (and I am open to any suggestion or correction) that he has more clout with the Sjiite masses than the aloof, Farsi-accented Sistani who preaches, and - it seems - all too often practices, withdrawal from the world.

He does have 'Sadr City' and his own personal over ten thousand-strong Mehdi army. His powerbase is the poor masses from the slums.

The Shia tradition in Iraq is secular, more so than in Iran. So Ayatollah Sistani apparently appeals to the lower Shia middle class and up (Iraqi middle class, not exactly western standard ). I’ve heard that anti-extremist Shia militiamen clashed with the Mehdi army on some occasions.

[Adrian II]

The Shia tradition in Iraq is secular, more so than in Iran.

I know, even the Iraqi Communist Party drew more recruits from the Shiite population in the 1950's and 1960's than from any other ethnicity. The Iraqi Shiites who fought Khomeini in the 1980's will be equally unsympathetic to Iranian meddling in their affairs. That is why I got the impression that the Iran-born Sistani and his Pasdaran-trained Badr Army would eventually lose the initiative to Moqtada. However, Al-Sadr would be a complete fool to let things come to a head at this moment. From his perspective, he had better wait till the Americans are gone.