Shiite official: Bush urged constitution compromises (federalism + Baath)

[sabra]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-08-26-iraq_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

Shiite official: Bush urged constitution compromises

BAGHDAD (AP) — President Bush urged Shiites to make concessions to Sunni Arabs on two key points — federalism and Saddam Hussein's Baath Party — to win their support for Iraq's constitution, a Shiite official said Friday following a third extension of the deadline to approve the charter.
U.S. officials have also appealed to the country's powerful Shiite clergy, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to help resolve the standoff, said Ali al-Adeeb, a Shiite member of the committee drafting the charter.

Shiite negotiators agreed to study suggested changes to the document Friday after parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani announced officials would try again to reach unanimity after the latest deadline passed at midnight Thursday.

A Sunni negotiator, meanwhile, pointed the finger at the Kurds, citing their "intransigence" over the issue of federalism, which the Sunnis oppose.

[Missy M]

1. I wonder what arm twisting bush applied when doing the urging?

[rfkrfk]

2. if Sunnis don't like federalism, they should start their own country

without federalism --> everbody wins.

[CJCRANE]

6. Trouble is -

the oil is in the Kurdish and Shi'ite areas.

On edit: plus the Sunnis did have their own country, it was called "Iraq" (pre-March 2003).

[Lerkfish]

3. Again, why does Bush have anything to say about a soveriegn nation's

constitution? If the nation is free, they are free to choose how they should be governed.

why, the only way it makes sense for Bush to tell them how to set up their govt. is if they are in fact, not free, but are cowed vassals to the neocon empire.

but of course, that's tin foil hat talk.

[Roland99]

4. So, when is the Propagandist going to Baghdad in person to fix things?

Or, is he intent on creating a new "democracy" in the middle of the Middle East purely by remote control? Doesn't he realize how hard it is to control puppets from 10,000 miles away?

[ECH1969]

5. Sounds like he is using our national purse strings

as leverage. I can see it now. 5 billion for not banning the Baath Party, ok 6 billion, we can keep going up if you guys need more.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. NYT: Bush Steps In as Charter Talks in Iraq Reach Breaking Point

Bush Steps In as Charter Talks in Iraq Reach Breaking Point
By DEXTER FILKINS and JAMES GLANZ
Published: August 26, 2005


BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 25 - Talks over the Iraqi constitution reached a breaking point on Thursday, with a parliamentary session to present the document being canceled and President Bush personally calling one of the country's most powerful Shiite leaders in an effort to broker a last-minute deal.

Mr. Bush intervened when some senior Shiite leaders said they had decided to bypass their Sunni counterparts, as well as Iraqi lawmakers, and send the document directly to Iraqi voters for their approval.

The calls by Shiite leaders to ignore the Sunnis' request for changes to the draft constitution provoked threats from the Sunnis that they would urge their people to reject the document when it goes before voters in a national referendum in October.

At day's end, American officials in Washington declared that the Iraqis had made "substantial and real progress" toward a deal on the constitution. And senior Iraqi leaders said they would make a last-ditch effort on Friday to strike a deal.

But after so many days of fruitless negotiations, some senior political leaders here suggested that time had run out....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/26/international/middleeast/26iraq.html

[BattyDem]

8. What could Bush* possibly do at this point?

Threaten military action? :eyes:

It's over, Georgie. You screwed it up. We lost. Bring our troops home.

[DrDan]

9. it's funny how junior feels others should compromise

but fails to do so himself - EVER