Soldier journalist Bing West may be right when he says that only "brute force will win this war." Which means the real constitutional question in Iraq may be how much of that force will be needed, and who — Sunni, Shi’a, Kurd, American, Iranian — will apply it.
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October 12, 2005
WB: Let’s Break a Deal
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“Man is and remains an animal. Here a beast of prey, there a housepet, but always an animal”
– JOSEPH GOEBBELS
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 12 2005 20:18 utc | 1
This is insane reporting:
Iraqi Lawmakers OK Last-Minute Amendments
Parliament on Wednesday approved a set of last-minute amendments to Iraq’s draft constitution..
The hour-long session, attended by 157 of parliament’s 275 members — ended without the lawmakers voting on the amendments, but Parliament Speaker Hajim al-Hassani said no actual vote was necessary and that the compromise was approved.
“Today with the presence of the National Assembly members, it is considered to be adopted,” he told The Associated Press.
Agreed not by voting but just by convening half of the parliament – US induced “Democracy” – reported by AP.
I was debating whether to post this here or on Open Thread, but it’s doubtless appropriate here. Interesting stuff, by poster on Americablog.
There’s an insurrection @the Mossad.
JERUSALEM:Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, has been rocked to the core by an internal crisis provoking an avalanche of resignations since Meir Dagan was appointed its chief in 2002, a newspaper reported yesterday.
“Earthquake at heart of Mossad,” ran a headline on the front page of the Yediot Aharonot, detailing a “wave” of unprecedented departures from staff accusing their boss of driving the elite agency into a “dead end”………
The latest report comes just over a year after Israel’s private Channel 2 television claimed in November that more than 200 agents, including seven department heads, had resigned over the policies of its controversial boss…….
When Dagan took over in October 2002, Mossad switched its sights on international ‘terrorism’ with a renewed focus on overseas commando operations….
link – 1st post
For those who think this is an academic question, over the Strong Objections of the CIA, the Mossad was given the Green light by this Admin. to operate in America for first time ever. (google Mossad Richard Sale) Sale is a very highly respected long-time reporter on the “intel” beat. I heard a radio interview w/him on this. He clearly spoke w/a lot of CIA guys who wanted to get the word out.
Posted by: jj | Oct 12 2005 21:15 utc | 3
I can’t quite figure out why we’re so focused on the Iraqi Constitution anyway. What the hell difference is it going to make?
None of the alledged ‘milestones’ achieved post invasion have slowed terrorism or put the people of Iraq in a better position to take care of themselves. I’m hard pressed to believe that this will be any different.
When I start hearing the administration babble on about achievements in Iraq my eyes glaze over…and I’m actually a news junkie. It’s alarming that there are millions of Americans who aren’t like me..who probably reach for the clicker (remote or mouse..take your pick) when news like this is put in front of them.
We’ve been fed “Wolf!” so much when it comes to Iraq that no one wants to deal with it anymore.
The whole “constitional” agenda is so American-centric. Consider that Canada never got around to writing its own constitution until about 30 years ago – after Joni Mitchell and Glenn Gould and Marshall McLuhan. Those pieces of paper are really not all that significant in the long run; perhaps even a detriment to a real functioning society.
Posted by: Walter | Oct 13 2005 2:08 utc | 5
“I can’t quite figure out why we’re so focused on the Iraqi Constitution anyway. What the hell difference is it going to make?”
Posted by: carla | Oct 12, 2005 8:31:40 PM | #
The whole purpose of getting the ‘new’ Iraqi constitution signed sealed and delivered is to ligitimise the the privatisation of the Iraqi natural resourses mainly oil of course but including the land itself.
Under Saddam’s Ba’ath Socialists the country was Nationalized including the oil resourses.( Gasoline was fifteen cents a gallon.)
Posted by: pb | Oct 13 2005 2:21 utc | 6
The whole purpose of getting the ‘new’ Iraqi constitution signed sealed and delivered is to ligitimise the the privatisation of the Iraqi natural resourses mainly oil of course but including the land itself.
Mainly Oil, my ass. Mainly Everything. Farmers are prohibited from using the seeds they’ve cultivated since long before the West even existed. You name it, the Pirates stole it.
I heard a brief discussion of it on radio today – hence no link. One of its provisions – betraying genesis of New State in head of NeoNuts – is that anyone who has lived there since 1920, or their descendants are considered Iraqi citizens & hence capable of running for Pres. & god knows what else. But the piece de resistence, and sure provoker of Utter Chaos, is that either everyone driven out since 1925/1920, or descendants thereof, is entitled to get their land back. I don’t recall if it specifies Jews, or that is just implicit. Oh, and if that’s not insane enough on its face, there are no records of those transactions in existence anymore. Sounds like it’s a bargaining chip to counter Palestinian claims…you renounce your claims, we’ll renounce ours. (Of course, it doesn’t mention that the Jews were actually driven out by bombs set off Israeli pre-cursor of Mossad & blamed on Iraqis so enough Jews would flee to Israel to provide population w/which to defend itself. That bit is kept well buried. I heard it in a lecture by Joel Benin, Jewish Socialist Feminist Prof. of ME studies @Stanford, and past head of ME Studies Assoc – to the horror of NeoNuts.)
Posted by: jj | Oct 13 2005 4:26 utc | 7
@JJ
Don’t forget The Water Barons i.e. ‘Water Privatization’See: “Middle East Water: Time Running Out”
Not to mention “Turkish Dams” and how the Turkey will do anything to get in nato/EU etc…
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 13 2005 4:51 utc | 8
Thanks for that addition $cam. Water is as impt. as oil in this case. Iraq is so verry impt. in ME ‘cuz it’s only country to have both plenty of oil & water.
Posted by: jj | Oct 13 2005 5:12 utc | 9
@jj
also, Merci monsieur, for the heads-up on the ‘insurrection @the Mossad’comment, If I had to go on gut instinct everything in my bones say the Mossad were part of 911 along w/ factions of the neoconazi’s, but then again, 30 year old Glenfiddich does give one strange thoughts…
Sept. 11 riddles remain/ “Able Danger”/ and The Israeli “art student” story which begs the Q, What if ALL of al-Qaeda is a Mossad Op?
Not to mention the fringe rumors of The two SAS Brit undercover Agents Rescued in Basra may Have been Israelis, or FBI Brad Doucette who investigated the Mossad/AIPAC and was ‘suicided’ or even the Jeff Gannon/Gosch: A possible Mossad Sayanim ? question.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 13 2005 6:19 utc | 10
Manufacture a couple of boogy men, use Mossad’s operational capabilities, make a couple of audio/video tapes & you can shred all the Constitutions in the West that our ancestors evolved & fought for centuries to develop, invade any country you want any time…Sky’s the Limit, baby…
So, it should come as no suprise that Thursday’s Guardian brings us this front page story. Revealed: Al-Qaida plan to seize control of Iraq
Osama bin Laden’s deputy has sent a letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the militant leader in Iraq, setting out a blueprint for taking control of the country when American troops leave, according to US intelligence officials.
blah, blah, blah…who cares about the rest of the garbage.
Posted by: jj | Oct 13 2005 6:43 utc | 11
Uncle
There is one scandal you didn’t mention that has never been adequately explained, that of Gov McGreevy in NJ and his “special friend” Mr. Cipel. McGreevy was outed by his friend after refusing him a position in his administration that dealt with security, which would have given access to the security of the entire NY-NJ metropolitan area. After the scandal broke, Mr. Cipel went/fled to Israel. A very strange case, a Google gives the details.
Posted by: ww | Oct 13 2005 6:44 utc | 12
Uncle, ask & the gods shall provide!! What can I say…truly I didn’t make that up!!
It’s prob. a bit more complicated than just the Mossad. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t work in cahoots w/state political police operations throughout the ME. After all, none of those dictatorships want to be destabilized by the Palestinians either. Once you lv. the world of the honorable, it’s a serious cesspool. But rumor has it that the Mossad is second to none operationally, and probably for zealotry as well.
Posted by: jj | Oct 13 2005 6:48 utc | 13
jj,
This link is a personal memoir from an Iraqi Jew.
Jews from Islamic lands did not emigrate willingly to Israel; that, to force them to leave, Jews killed Jews…
—
We Jews from Islamic lands did not leave our ancestral homes because of any natural enmity between Jews and Muslims. And we Arabs—I say Arab because that is the language my wife and I still speak at home—we Arabs on numerous occasions have sought peace with the State of the Jews.
Posted by: lonesomeG | Oct 13 2005 12:57 utc | 14
Hmmm. Now they’ve caught Americans dressed as Arabs. (Story about half way down link.)
A number of Iraqis apprehended two Americans disguised in Arab dress as they tried to blow up a booby-trapped car in the middle of a residential area in western Baghdad on Tuesday.
Residents of western Baghdad’s al-Ghazaliyah district told Quds Press that the people had apprehended the Americans as they left their Caprice car near a residential neighborhood in al-Ghazaliyah on Tuesday afternoon (11 October 2005). Local people found they looked suspicious so they detained the men before they could get away. That was when they discovered that they were Americans and called the Iraqi puppet police.
Five minutes after the arrival of the Iraqi puppet police on the scene a large force of US troops showed up and surrounded the area. They put the two Americans in one of their Humvees and drove away at high speed to the astonishment of the residents of the area.
Quds Press spoke by telephone with a member of the al-Ghazaliyah puppet police who confirmed the incident, saying that the two men were non-Arab foreigners but declined to be more precise about their nationality.
Posted by: lonesomeG | Oct 14 2005 2:39 utc | 15