Blair welcomes Iraq's draft constitution

[sabra]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/29/content_3415111.htm

Blair welcomes Iraq's draft constitution

LONDON, Aug. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday hailed the publication of Iraq's draft constitution, calling it "an important and historic achievement."

The ethnic and religious diversity of Iraq made drafting a constitution "a particularly complex task. But compromise is the essence of democracy," Blair, who is in vacation in Barbados, saidin a statement issued by his office.

"This text is testimony to the determination of the Iraqi people to build a free, secure and democratic future. It protects the rights of all Iraq's communities and the unity of Iraq," the statement said.

"The small minority who have chosen violence over democracy will no doubt respond with bloodshed and intimidation. But they can be defeated if Iraq's communities work together to build a unified Iraq in which the rights and interests of all are respected," said the statement.

[BlueJac]

1. Historic........

Blair you and Bush are historic. Two of the leaders of the free world will go down in history for lying our way into a war and being totally responsible for thousands of US and British lives, not counting the tens of thousands Iraqi lives. Now that is what I call historic........:kick:

[Eloriel]

2. Everything is always just peachy with these people

there IS no failure, no lack of success, it's all just roses.

And rose-colored glasses.

[VegasWolf]

3. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds! nt

[MidwestTransplant]

4. The greater your failure the higher you get promoted in Bush's admin.

[1932]

5. This is different from the US statements which focus on US involvement.

But the whole thing is doomed to fail, I suspect, because this work is being done in an environment dominated by the US.

[IndianaGreen]

6. Blair is as deluded as Bush!

I think Blair is a closet Faux News watcher!

The Guardian's correspondents in Baghdad are reporting something entirely different from what Bush and Blair are saying:

Iraq crisis deepens as Sunnis reject deal

Rory Carroll Baghdad and Peter Beaumont
Sunday August 28, 2005
The Observer

Last-ditch attempts to rescue Iraq's political process appeared to have collapsed yesterday when negotiations over a new constitution acceptable to all three major communities ended in failure and disarray.
As Sunni negotiators accused the Shia and Kurdish coalition of failing to make any movement towards consensus - effectively rejecting the draft document - officials from the Shia-dominated government insisted the talks over the long-delayed document were complete and that it would be presented to the Iraqi parliament for ratification today.

The apparent steam-rollering of Sunni objections after marathon talks ended yesterday led to Sunni claims that the failure of the talks had brought the country another step closer to civil war.

The document that will be presented to Iraqi MPs today will include controversial provisions backed by Shias and Kurds for endorsing a federal structure and the purging of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, a move which is fiercely opposed by Sunnis. Sunni negotiators announced after the talks collapsed that they now intend to present a rival constitution, escalating the sense of political crisis

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1558062,00.html

[Cha]

7. You're HISTORY

tony, tony, tony. Go scoop up your billions from carlyle and LUTFA!

[OKthatsIT]

8. "welcomes" every woman's bane

...signing on the dotted line... second class servitude, no rights under law...fuck you blair.

[Kelvin Mace]

9. Of course he does.

He does what his master tells him.

[despairing optimist]

10. Blair isn't Iraqi and doesn't have to live under sharia

He's got a sinecure lined up for him at the Carlyle Group after he resigns as PM. Ah, life is sweet, isn't it?