US Embassy criticizes Iraq division plan

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD - The U.S. Embassy on Sunday criticized a Senate resolution that could lead to a division of the country into sectarian or ethnic territories, agreeing with a swath of Iraqi leaders in saying the proposal "would produce extraordinary suffering and bloodshed."

Northwest of the capital, U.S. aircraft killed more than 20 al-Qaida fighters who opened fire on them, the military said Sunday.

The unusual statement from the Bush administration came just hours after representatives of Iraq's major political parties denounced the U.S. Senate proposal calling for a limited centralized government with the bulk of the power given to the country's Shiite, Sunni or Kurdish regions, saying it would seriously hamper Iraq's future stability.

"Our goal in Iraq remains the same: a united, democratic, federal Iraq that can govern, defend, and sustain itself," the statement said. "Iraq's leaders must and will take the lead in determining how to achieve these national aspirations. ... attempts to partition or divide Iraq by intimidation, force or other means into three separate states would produce extraordinary suffering and bloodshed."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070930/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=A0WTUdK8zP9GlnQBlxes0NUE

[acmavm]

1. You know, I don't give a damn what anybody connected to the US thinks

about this plan. It is what the people of that region think about it that matters.

[ohio2007]

2. people hate each other over there and the way they handle their hatred

should be done in a peacefull way........

[Kagemusha]

4. Current scorecard: Kurds love the idea, all others hate it.

That's the results in a nutshell.

I saw some posters last night who have this strange idea that al-Sistani, the Shiite religious leader, supports this plan. A quick glance at Juan Cole's blog disabused me of that notion but, I didn't feel like breaking up the hug-fest.

[acmavm]

6. Do you mean this thread???

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3563751

As you can see if you look at my post, this idea has been around for a long time. It's what bush** and the neocons always wanted. But because it falls out of the mouth of a dem, people are acting like it's a new and brilliant idea that will save the day.

People are so damn desperate after all these years of 'war'. Wait until they see what happens if we try to start carving up the area and allotting territories to who we think should have them.

[Kagemusha]

7. I can add nothing to your words. Completely agree.

I don't blame Biden for having hope but... the locals won't accept this without a fight, literally. That's the main downside to it.

Oh and, just to toss something else in, I saw a term from the Kurdish reaction... I think it was, "voluntary unity". What can you say.

[jillan]

10. I was the one that posted about al-Sistani - and here is the link

http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/22292



Sistani makes notes on national pact, blesses it - VP

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baghdad, 27 September 2007 (Voices of Iraq)

Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said on Thursday that he discussed the National Pact Project and a number of political issues during his meeting with top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani at his house in Najaf, noting that Sistani blessed the project.

The media spokesman for al-Hashemi's office had earlier said that Tareq al-Hashemi discussed "the National Pact," project during his meeting with Shiite top cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and other Shiite clerics on Thursday in the city of Najaf.

Al-Hashemi's visit to Najaf is the first since he assumed office in 2006.

"The project has other mechanisms, had not been announced yesterday. These mechanisms will be discussed with political blocs. It focuses on the strategic situation of the country and the issue of forming the government," al-Hashemi said.
=======================================================================================================================

Hashemi - a Sunni - used to be a Bush-man over there. He walked away 2 months ago.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1360357.php/Al-Sistani_blesses_proposed_Iraqi_"National_Pact%22__Roundup_

Al-Hashimi headed a delegation from the IAF, which is the third largest bloc in parliament with 44 of 275 seats.

The bloc, which is made up of main Sunni Islamic parties, has pulled out of the ruling coalition led by Shiite Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki.
(notice the headline on that link)

=======================

these articles are all over the place - but you have to look further than the MSM.

[cal04]

3. Iraqi parties denounce splitting country

Representatives of Iraq's major political parties on Sunday denounced a U.S. Senate proposal calling for a limited centralized Iraqi government with the bulk of the power given to the country's ethnically divided regions.

The groups, which represented both Shiites and Sunnis, said the plan would hamper Iraq's stability, and they suggested an Iraqi law permanently banning the country's split along sectarian or ethnic lines.

"This proposal was based on the incorrrect reading and unrealistic estimations of Iraq's past, present and future," according to the statement read by Izzat al-Shahbandar, a representative of the Iraqi National List, a secular political party.

(snip)
The majority Shiites, who would retain control of major oil revenues under a division of the country, oppose the measure because it would diminish the territorial integrity of Iraq, which they now control. Sunnis would control an area with few if any oil resources. Kurds have major oil reserves in their territory.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070930/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070928172837

[jillan]

5. Oh boy - then we get to stay the course.

[acmavm]

8. Don't be silly. There ARE other options. You're a Biden supporter is all.

[moondust]

9. Too bad. It's the only thing left that makes any sense.

Separating these hostile groups may be the only way to prevent a future bloodbath or the constant threat thereof whether it comes in 6 months, 3 years or 20.

As evidence that these groups cannot live together peacefully unless held together by despotic rule one only needs to look at the four million or so Iraqi refugees that escaped their neighborhoods with their lives. As long as Iraqis live in mixed neighborhoods they will always be easy targets for the same kind of violence that drove that four million out.

If separated these groups could largely govern and police themselves and virtually all U.S. troops could leave knowing the odds of a long and bloody civil war are greatly diminished. The four million displaced could move back to their own sectors almost immediately and live in relative safety, ultimately protected by their their own.

The Iraqis would always have the option of reintegrating once things cool down and they actually WANT to live together without all the killing and maiming.

I think the Senate is right but it's up to the Iraqis, preferably average Iraqis and not those who see themselves getting rich and powerful off a big "united" Iraq that is actually a failed state in a perpetual civil war.