Draft of Iraq Constitution

since you asked:

http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/002289.html
--
Dear Mrs. Sheehan,

You have asked me to identify the noble cause for which your son died. I have not answered you personally out of respect for the nobility of your son's sacrifice.

Being president forces me into the spotlight, but I would rather stand in the shadows of men like Casey Sheehan.

Directing national attention on my response to your protest creates a distraction from what matters. The focus of our attention, and our admiration, should rest on people like Casey Sheehan, who stand in the breach when evil threatens to break out and consume a helpless people.

The running story on the news networks should be the valiant efforts of our troops -- the merchants of mercy who export freedom and import honor. They trade their own lives for the sake of others.

As a result, we live in a nation where a woman can camp outside of the president's house and verbally attack the president for weeks on end without fear of prison, torture or death. And the number of nations where such protest is possible has multiplied thanks to the work of our military.

You ask for what noble cause your son died?

In a sense he died so that people like you, who passionately oppose government policies, can freely express that opposition. As you camp in Crawford, you should take off your shoes, for you stand on holy ground. This land was bought with the blood of men like your son.

Now, 25 million Iraqis cry out to enjoy the life you take for granted. Most of them will never use their freedom to denigrate the sacrifice of those who paid for it. But once liberty is enshrined in law, they will be free to do so. And when the Iraqis finally escape their incarceration, hope will spread throughout that enslaved region of the world, eventually making us all safer and more free.

The key is in the lock of the prison door. Bold men risk everything to turn it.

Mrs. Sheehan, everyone dies. But few experience the bittersweet glory of death with a purpose -- death that sets people free and produces ripples of liberty hundreds of years into the future.

Casey Sheehan died that freedom might triumph over bondage, hope over despair, prosperity over misery. He died restoring justice and mercy. He lived and died to help to destroy the last stubborn vestiges of the Dark Ages.

To paraphrase President Lincoln, the world will little note nor long remember what you and I say here. But it can never forget what Casey Sheehan did during his brief turn on earth. If we are wise, we will take increased devotion to that cause for which he gave the last full measure of devotion.

Our brave warriors have blazed a trail. They have entrusted the completion of the task to those of us they left behind. Let's, you and I, resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.

Let's finish the work that they have thus far so nobly advanced.

Sincerely,
George W. Bush

 

Yep because we weren't allowed to protest and have free speech before the war in Iraq . Saddam was a big threat to that. If he wasn't taken out as soon as he was nobody would have been allowed to protest anymore.

 

Oh basso!

Is there a reason you left this off? We know how you like to edit...

Do you really believe that Bush wrote this and was going to hand deliver it to Cindy?

What a load of ****!

Bush couldn't write a piece of contemporaneous prose like this to save his life (which by the way it seems he's trying to do!)

This "Leak" has Rove all over it!

But I LOVE this...

So he's a man of honor now instead of a coward who went AWOL in Vietnam? LOL!!!! Bush doesn't even deserve the honor of spitshining Casey's boots!

and this...

SO basso?

Are you passing this letter around to as many of your friends as fast as you can?

Oh my GOD!!!!

Yer killing me!!!!

 

BTW

I love how the memo just happened to "leaked" today!

LOL!!!

 

Afganistan didn't need oil. They could have charged rent for the pipeline going through it. There was actually a huge and willing coalition around that could have help fund the redevelopment and given aid and job training. With all the outsourcing going on we could have started a huge technological training over there, and had them specialize in programing, communications, whatever, and helped them build a reputation as quality but affordable labor in a certain area.

It wouldn't have been that quick, but it would have been the right thing to do, and it would have shown that we were willing to put in a lot of work to clean up the mess etc. It would have helped America's prestige and clout in the region all the more. By doing this other nations know they can count on the 'good guys' to see that those that want democracy will have real and meaningful support.

 

Just a thought and side note.

But Afghanistan is really becoming a possibility that the Dems could use to start shifting focus about the war.

Everyone keeps saying that the Dems do nothing but complain and won't put forth ideas; well what if they began really trying to engage the idea of refocusing the war on terror back to Afghanistan. "We have a plan to get out of Iraq! Go back to the original war we were intended to fight!" Keep the training going in Iraq, but shift the emphasis back to OBL.

Then there could be some serious dialogue. Maybe even some common ground to come to?

 

uhmmm, dude- take a good hard look at the site, other "articles" etc. i think you may have failed to grasp...something...

 

I'm glad you brought up Iran because I find it interesting that a country that the Admin. considers the second leg of the Axis of Evil is more democratic than some of our staunchest allies in the reason. As far as the theocrats losing power I think the last Iranian elections shows they still have a lot of sway and are getting more popular support than they have in the past decade. If anything our actions in the middle east are strengthening the hardliners in Iran.

 

yer funny

 

So all those who don't support the War In Iraq are communists.

You must be getting frustrated, Khan, to be reduced to such an argument.

 

According to Rumsfeld they are...

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/2005/tr20050823-secdef3741.html

 

Good post. Except for the neocons spoiling for another war and the neo-conned, I think it is clear that as America has threatened to invade Iran or bomb it, the conservative hardliners have used Iranian nationalism to advance their cause. This is the mirror image of the way in which Bush has used 9/11 to strenghten the more fundamentalist and militaristic tendencies in our country.

 

So if you oppose the war in Iraq, which is widely seen as illegal, you not only love terrorists and hate America, but you are a communist, too?

Well, what do you expect? It was Rumsfeld who came up with the brilliant question: If Americans are not protesting about more than 2,000 auto deaths per year, why are they protesting the 1800 soldier killed in Iraq?

 

Can a man who asks that question possibly have any empathy or real support for our troops?

 

So Glynch,

As of today, what should be done? All you ever do is bit$h and moan about conspiracies and other nutjob stuff and how its some big plot and only you have it all figured out.

Why don't you for ONCE come up with a solution or bring some information and have a rational discussion.

What would you do today if you were in charge of the US Forces??

People act as if it was so humane what the US and the world was doing to Iraq for the last 15 years. There was an arms embargo that crippled the country and no-fly zones that limited their ability to control their own country. Would you have had us slowly suck the life and watch it deteriorate more and more or would you have us go in and attempt to set up some type of representative democracy and a constitution as guidelines and give the people a chance to be free??

And to answer franchiseblade's question from before, with Afghanistan, i just don't think its possible right now. I've been to the northern pakistan regions and a majority of the country is broken up into fragmented tribes that live in the rugged terrain. The 'government' whether its Karzai's or the Taliban really only controlled the two large cities. I think we have a responsibility to correct many of the mistakes in the past of supporting people like Saddam, the Shah of Iran, the Kings and other dictators. This is a chance to allow them to set up a democracy that can give people an outlet for their views and they will not need to strap on a bomb to do so. I truly feel that the seeds of democracy are there and that this time is crucial. If we leave now we could be giving up on a chance to change the entire landscape of the middle east for the next hundred years.

 

I agree with you about the history of supporting bad regimes in the region, and that we need to stop. But we need to give the citizens the chance and support they need to fix their nation as they see fit. We don't need to march in their and attempt to force them to do it the way that we like.

As far as Afghanistan and abandoning it, it seems that is what you are against in Iraq, but are for it in Afghanistan. I'm against abandoning Afghanistan and if we can do some good in Iraq I am in favor of staying there too. I am not convinced we can do any good there, nor am I convinced we can not. Given our current leadership and their frequent blunders in this endeavor I am skeptical that it can fixed under Bush.

The thing is that the President promised that we would reconstruct Afghanistan. That is what we need to do. Just writing it off because of the difficulties of the terrain or various factions is giving up too easily. We made a promise to rebuild it and we should keep our word. It is good for the region, good for the U.S. and the best way to capture Bin Laden.

 

One hundred thousand Shi'ites protest Iraq charter

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26663687.htm

26 Aug 2005 15:02:55 GMT
By Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A hundred thousand Iraqis across the country marched on Friday in support of a maverick Shi'ite cleric opposed to a draft constitution that U.S.-backed government leaders say will deliver a brighter future.

The protest could reinforce the opposition of Sunni Arabs who dominate the insurgency and are bitterly against the draft.

Supporters of young Shi'ite firebrand Moqtada al-Sadr, who has staged two uprisings against U.S. troops, also protested against poor services during their marches, stepping up the pressure on the government.

A hundred thousand Sadr supporters marched in eight cities, including 30,000 people who gathered for a sermon delivered on his behalf in a Baghdad slum district.

They hardly noticed a huge government poster which read "One Nation, One People, One Constitution", instead seeking guidance from Sadr who inspires fierce devotion in his followers.

Sadr returned to centre stage this week after his fighters fought a rival Shi'ite militia, the Badr organisation, raising fears of a new front in Iraq's relentless cycle of violence.

He is stirring hopes among his vast following at a time when Iraq's divided politicians have missed a series of deadlines for reaching a consensus on the constitution, which is expected to be put to a referendum in October.

Sadr has also come out in support of Sunni opposition to the federal state that his Shi'ite rivals in government, with their Kurdish allies, have outlined in the charter.

"Bush and America out," yelled cleric Abdel-Zahra al-Suwaidid, reading a statement on Sadr's behalf in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City which is named after his revered father, a cleric allegedly killed by Saddam Hussein's agents.

Another widespread complaint was written simply on banners: "We want water, we want electricity."

The young cleric has gained followers by portraying himself as a champion of the poor. Sadr's cult-like popularity means he can quickly mobilise his fighters if a full-scale conflict with the Badr movement breaks out.

CULT VERSUS CONSTITUTION

Young boys wore T-shirts with images of Sadr and his father as others played a song on a scratchy cassette which repeated "Oh Moqtada, Oh Moqtada" over and over.

"I like Sayyid Moqtada," said eight-year-old Montadhir Taei, using Sadr's religious title.

It was clear his elders have been influencing him: "Iraqis should write the constitution, not the Americans," he said.

The image of Sadr, a burly figure with a turban, was pasted on a water tank carried by a teenager spraying cool water at the crowd of tens of thousands under a cruel sun in Baghdad.

Sadr, who has denied U.S. and Iraqi government accusations he ordered the killing of a rival cleric, assumed a low profile after a U.S. offensive against his forces last year in Najaf.

Now he faces the Iranian-trained Badr movement, which some Iraqis accuse of operating in hit squads alongside government forces. Badr officials and the government deny the accusations.

Sadr's supporters say Badr militiamen attacked his office in Najaf on Wednesday, and clashes then erupted in several cities. A Badr official denied any involvement. Eight people were killed, health officials said.

"These people just want power and money. You go ask the Interior Ministry who did this," said Hussein Saleh, referring to the Badr movement.

The fighting between the two groups across several cities raised the spectre of a new security crisis in Iraq, already ravaged by a Sunni Arab insurgency that has killed thousands of Iraqi police and soldiers, civilians and U.S. troops.

At the Baghdad protest, fighters in Sadr's Mehdi Army stood alert on rooftops with assault rifles as speakers condemned the United States.

Some of Sadr's authority comes from credentials of his slain father, Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr.

"We don't need a constitution because Mohammed al-Sadr's writing is our constitution," said Mohammed Ubeidi, 26, sitting below a wall-clock dominated by pictures of Moqtada and his father.

 

The US doesn't negotiate with terrorists, but apparently we'll release terrorists in order to get a constitution passed!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/iraq_dc;...nRX6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

more

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US military announced that it had released around 1,000 prisoners from the infamous Abu Ghraib prison over the past three days amid efforts to win Sunni Arab endorsement for a new Iraqi constitution.

A statement confirmed that most of those freed were Sunnis although it added that they represented different Iraqi communities and stressed that none were suspected of serious acts of violence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050827/wl_mideast_afp/iraqusprisoners_050827175501