Sunnis Protest / Don't endorse New Constitution

[Guest BlackJesus]

[color="red"][i]Once, defeated the Elections and Constitution will have to start over from scratch. [/color][/i]


[img]http://photos1.blogger.com/img/9/3479/320/sunni_shia_protest3.jpg[/img]
[u]New Iraq constitution sparks Sunni protests
Thousands rally in Saddam's hometown; Bush expresses disappointment
MSNBC
Aug. 29, 2005[/u]


BAGHDAD, Iraq - Thousands of Sunni demonstrators rallied in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit on Monday to denounce Iraq’s new constitution a day after negotiators finished the new charter without the endorsement of Sunni Arabs.

Sunni leaders have urged their community to defeat the charter in a nationwide referendum on Oct. 15, saying it had been rammed through the drafting committee by the dominant Shiite Arab and Kurdish alliance.

The absence of Sunni endorsement, after more than two months of intensive negotiations, raised fears of more violence and set the stage for a bitter political fight ahead of the referendum. A political battle threatened to sharpen communal divisions at a time when relations among the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds appear to be worsening.

[u]Protesters lash out[/u]
In Tikrit, at least 2,000 protesters assembled near the office of the Association of Muslims Scholars — a hardline Sunni clerical group opposed to the U.S. occupation — carrying Iraqi flags and portraits of the former dictator.

“We sacrifice our souls and blood for you, Saddam,” chanted the demonstrators. They carried pictures of Shiite clerics Muqtada Al-Sadir and Jawad Al-Khalisi who have joined the Sunnis in opposing the constitutional draft.

Sheik Yahya Ibrahim Al-Batawi, an organizer of the protest, read a statement denouncing the “Jewish constitution,” saying its goal was to divide Iraq along sectarian and ethnic lines.

Sunni negotiators delivered their rejection in a joint statement Sunday shortly after the draft was submitted to parliament. They branded the final version as “illegitimate” and asked the Arab League and the United Nations to intervene.

“I think if this constitution passes as it is, it will worsen everything in the country,” said Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni negotiator.

[u]U.S. disappointed[/u]
President Bush expressed disappointment that the Sunnis did not sign on but pinned his hopes on the referendum.

But the depth of disillusionment over the charter in the Sunni establishment extended beyond the 15 negotiators, who were appointed to the constitutional committee in June under U.S. pressure.

The country’s Sunni vice president, Ghazi al-Yawer, did not show up at a Sunday ceremony marking the completion of the document. When President Jalal Talabani said that al-Yawer was ill, senior government officials including Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi howled with laughter.

“I hope that our people will accept it despite some flaws,” said Talabani, a Kurd.

Parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni, said he thought the final document contained “too much religion” and too little protection of women’s’ rights.

Despite last-minute concessions from the majority Shiites and Kurds, the Sunnis said the document threatened the unity of Iraq and its place in the Arab world.

Ibrahim al-Shammari, spokesman of a leading insurgent group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, said on Al-Jazeera television that the constitution “drafted under the supervision of the occupiers” would divide Iraq and benefit Israel.

[u]Sensitive issues[/u]
Major deal-breaker issues included federalism, Iraq’s identity in the Arab world and references to Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated Baath Party.

Sunnis fear federalism would lead to the breakup of the country into a Kurdish north and Shiite south, deprive Sunnis of Iraq’s vast oil wealth concentrated at the opposite ends of the country, and open the door to Iranian influence in the Shiite south. Sunnis also wanted no reference to Saddam’s party, fearing that would lead to widespread purges of Sunnis from government jobs.

Although Sunnis account for only 20 percent of Iraq’s estimated 27 million people, they still can derail the constitution in the referendum due to a concession made to the Kurds in the 2004 interim constitution. If two-thirds of voters in any three provinces reject the charter, the constitution will be defeated. Sunnis have the majority in at least four provinces.

[b][u]Defeat of the constitution would force new elections for a parliament that would begin the drafting process from scratch.[/u][/b] If the constitution is approved, elections for a fully constitutional parliament will be in December.

Communal tensions have risen since the Shiite-dominated government was announced April 28. Both Shiites and Sunnis accuse the other of assassinating members of the rival sect. Shiites and Kurds dominate the government security services, while most insurgents are believed to be Sunnis.

[Guest BlackJesus]

[color="green"][u][b]Revised BJ Plan to deal with Sunnis [/color][/b][/u]
(if we are going to play Ceaser... play it right)


[i][b]I have said all along.... Iraq is not 1 country... it is 3 countries.... only a brutal dictator like Saddam could hold it together. Democracy can not hold it together because the 3 sides have a very different view of the world, and these differences can not be reconciled, because most are based on religion which they feel they can not compromise. So lets just quit the bullshit and break it up.

--> With that said: You all know I am biased for the Kurds - the only decent lot in the whole fucking bunch... Kurds are secular, they give women rights, they don't care about Islam that much, they like to live in clan based villages, they like and welcome Americans and Westerners, ..... I say we go ahead and grant the Kurds and Shia their own independent Nations in the North and South and pull all US forces out of both areas immediatley granting them true independence to draft their own constitutions as they see fit.

--> Then in the Sunni Middle where all of the problems are we simpy become the occupiers that the world already knows we are and move all our troops in there, and declare the party started. There is no Oil in the center.... so the world can not use that reasoning against the US (this is also why we probably wouldn't do this idea)..... This would basically just be a mission to distract the Sunnis in the center and make them fight us while the Kurds and Shia form their new countries. If the Sunni can form their own independent nation in the center without any of the Oil spoils then fine.... they can have their half rubbled Baghdad and with no Oil $ being stolen from the other two sides of the country especially the North (kurds) Baghdad will quickly begin to resemble Calcutta. This will also make it easier on US troops. We will only be in the Sunni Center, we can form a barricade in the center of the triangle... and not lose men protecting Oil fields or patrolling large areas of the country since the other sides would have independence. [/b][/i]

[Guest bengalrick]

bj... that is your plan on this man


the best chance for the kurds right now, is the constitution... even in the sunnis demands, they recognize that the kurds will be a special condition in iraq... everyone pretty much knows that it will only be a matter or time before they break off...

what i see going on w/ the constitution, is the sunnis are starting to use terror to get their way... listen to some of their comments, they are saying that "violence will be worse, security will be worse" and though they are not advocating it, or endorsing it, they are using it... if the constiution is to go through, womans rights are going to be a necessity, b/c that will involve many more people... the sunnis are fighting for a right to the oil revenues, considering they have none in the middle...