This might just change the way things develop in Iraq

The Guardian writer Ghaith Abdul-Ahad interviews the leader of a band of Sunni insurgents who openly defied al-Qaida in Iraq by actively supporting the referendum. He says that in the Sunni areas of Iraq, the people and the local Iraqi insurgents among them had a different view: they were eager to vote. There was a widespread sense of regret about the boycotting of the last elections, which left the parliament in Baghdad dominated by Shia and Kurdish parties - and left the Sunnis, who held the power in Saddam's Iraq, out in the cold. The Sunnis wanted to take part in last week's referendum; they wanted a "no" vote on the draft constitution. The writer says that This might just change the way things develop in Iraq

President Jalabani interview

President Talabani tells Toby Harnden that Iraqis have started to hate these killers and butchers and they are isolated from the people. In certain areas, even some tribes are ready to co-operate with the government and coalition forces to fight against terrorists. British troops, he said, had helped to create such conditions for Iraqis, including Kurds, who under the federalism enshrined in the new constitution will be guaranteed regional autonomy. A country which had been a concentration camp built on top of a mass grave under Saddam was being slowly transformed. If terrorism is not controlled, it will increase and spread all over the world. Now you are fighting the terrorists here in their own place. If you stop doing this then you will be fighting them in your own cities and towns. You are our partners in this."

Murder of journalist union leader condemned

The International Federation of Journalists has condemned the brutal murder of Mohammad Harun Hassan, an editor and the Executive Secretary of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, who was gunned down by unknown attackers in Baghdad city centre.

In this Iraqi vote, the results are not known in advance

Howar Ziad, the Iraqi Ambassador to Canada, examines the referendum vote

Friday, October 14 Globe and Mail

Just 2½ years ago, the people were under the thumb of Saddam Husseins fascist regime. Today, they consider a document based on five core principles: diversity; decentralization; consent; protection of individual, minority and women's rights; and electoral legitimacy. For Canadians, such principles are self-evident. For Iraqis, they're a revelation.

This constitution accepts the fact that Iraq is a multiethnic, multireligious country. No longer will a false uniformity be imposed on Iraqis.

Our country, like Canada, is bilingual, and Iraq is the first state in the Islamic Middle East to recognize two official languages -- Arabic and Kurdish. As well, other languages are protected. To safeguard that diversity, the new constitution makes Iraq a decentralized state with a federal, not a central, government. That does not mean, as some claim, that Iraq is being divided up. Instead, by giving Iraqis the democratic, federal self-rule that many have long aspired to, the constitution's drafters have found a formula to keep Iraq intact.

For decades, both the Kingdom of Iraq and the post-1958 Republic of Iraq imposed a highly centralized state that rendered the country unstable creating the very divisions it was supposed to avoid.

As to the much misunderstood provisions on natural resources, the draft constitution aims to prevent the abuse of Iraq's natural endowment that, in the past, gave us a country of poverty and palaces, a country that could manufacture chemical weapons but could not provide running water to its people. To exert the necessary control over these resources, the constitution gives the provinces the powers to have a say in the development of natural resources.

Contrary to some commentary, the draft constitution protects individual freedom of conscience and the rights of women and minorities. The principles of basic human rights are recognized. Not only are minority identities mentioned and minority languages protected, minorities are represented in the new Iraqi parliament. In January's parliamentary elections, the three most successful lists, which together won 88 per cent of the total vote, all ran ethnically and religiously diverse lists.

As for women, the draft constitution requires that women fill at least one quarter of the seats in future parliaments. Personal status law is a matter of free choice, contrary to some people's misreading of the constitution. As for the much-commented-on provision of Islamic law experts on the supreme federal court, the draft constitution requires that the issue be affirmed by a two-thirds majority of all parliamentary deputies.

Consent is the foundation of democracy, which is why the draft constitution explicitly defines Iraq as a state whose legitimacy derives from the freely given will of its people. The preamble states that Iraq is a "free union."

The process that has led to this draft constitution has included elections and peaceful negotiations and compromise by the people's democratically elected representatives. Iraqis will vote three times this year. They voted in January; they'll vote tomorrow, and again in December, when new parliamentary elections will take place.

The electoral process may seem onerous, but it has led to two fundamental changes in Iraqi politics: The results of democratic elections are not challenged, and power changes hands peacefully. The interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, lost the January vote and willingly handed over power to Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a leader of the United Iraqi Alliance, which won the largest number of votes.

The only opposition in Iraq to this process has come from a minority of Iraqis who have chosen to express themselves with bombs rather than ballots. These killers are largely drawn from a minority within Iraq's Sunni Arab community. They are supremacists who believe that they, and their specific ethnic-religious community, have an inherent right to rule. Unlike white South Africans, who eventually conceded the immorality of apartheid when confronted with the dignity and courage of a leader such as Nelson Mandela, the Iraqi supremacists have rejected all opportunities for dialogue and democracy. Yet in Iraq, as in South Africa, the right of the majority to rule has been confirmed through elections.

As to whether the constitution will be ratified tomorrow, it is not for an ambassador to make a prediction. It is -- for a change in Iraqi history -- for the people to decide.

Howar Ziad, Iraq's ambassador to Canada, served as the Kurdish representative to the United Nations from 1999 to 2004

Kofi Annan message to the Iraqi people

AT CRITICAL MOMENT IN IRAQ ’S HISTORY, EVERY VOTE COUNTS, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS IRAQIS ON NATIONAL CONSTITUTION DAY

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s message to the Iraqi people on National Constitution Day (13 October), issued today in Lisbon:

Last January, you, the people of Iraq, demonstrated with great courage your commitment to your country’s transition to democracy. The constitutional referendum on 15 October is a keystone of this process. You will have the opportunity to exercise your democratic right to accept or reject the draft text that is submitted to you. For the second time in less than a year, the future is in your hands.

Today is dedicated to peaceful debate and reflection on the merits of this document, so that you can make an informed decision on referendum day. This is the time to keep the guns quiet on all sides and to let the voices of the Iraqi people be heard. In particular, I urge those who themselves refuse to participate in the political process not to deprive others of their right to do so, free from fear and intimidation.

At this critical moment in Iraq’s history, every vote counts. Whatever the outcome, the United Nations will continue to do all it can to help you succeed on whichever path you choose for building a stable, unified and prosperous Iraq.

Nick Cohen on liberal relativism

Nick Cohen in the Observer profiles Maryam Namazie who personifies the gulf between liberal apologists and those who really want equality

Book Review from Democratiya

Democratiya carries a review of Thomas Cushman’s anthology of essays which concludes that As for those who have taken a stand against the tide of leftish opinion it is down to us whether or not this book will be seen as a historical curiosity, reflecting the views of a small minority of dissenters, or will come to be seen as capturing an important moment in the rebirth of a principled, anti-tyranny, democratic left committed to universal values.

Images of the referendum

The IWPR carries a wonderful photoessay on the referendum on the constitution.

Sunni offices attacked

The BBC reports that three offices of an Iraqi Sunni party which dropped its opposition to the new constitution have been attacked, a day before a referendum on the text. The report quotes Alaa Makki, a senior party official, saying the party would use the political process to fight terrorism and promote stability in Iraq.

Al Qaeda tactics on Iraq

Normblog carries details of the correspondence between Al Qaeda leaders over tactics and strategies in Iraq and which is also examined here

Push to prepare women for referendum

See fascinating report from IWPR on Relief Web.

Troops In

The Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says in the Times that reforming Iraq, restoring a society distorted by fascism, was never going to be easy, asks Britain to keep its troops in Iraq and concludes that building democracy in Iraq is not a fanciful quest, but a recognition that all other approaches have failed. True stability comes from consent, not from the illusory “stability” of dictatorships. It is therefore in our mutual interest that we pursue the cause of democracy. We may falter, we may tire, but if we persevere, we shall not be defeated.

Liberal illusions on terror

Nick Cohen in the Observer examines the liberal self-delusion on the causes of terrorism and concludes that Yet the masochism - Kill us, we deserve it - the subliminal dislike of democracy and the willingness to turn al-Qaeda into the armed wing of every fashionable campaign from sustainable tourism to the anti-war movement will in the end disgrace the liberals by making them ridiculous.

Iraq: Insurgent Groups Responsible for War Crimes

Read this report from Human Rights Watch on terrorist war crimes in Iraq.

Communist Party says yes to the draft constitution

To Vote for the Constitution and Strengthen its Civil - Democratic Elements

The National Assembly has, at last, adopted the version of the draft constitution to be presented to our people in a public referendum on 15th October 2005. By endorsing this draft, our people will fulfil an important requirement of the on-going political process in the country. It will be a significant development in the direction of consolidating democracy and its institutions and completing the transitional phase. Furthermore, it will be a big step towards restoring security, stability and normality, in order to launch the process of reconstruction, revive the national economy and build a state based on the rule of law and institutions.

Our Party has dealt with the draft constitution, taking into account the difficult, exceptionally abnormal current conditions in our country, as well as the balance of forces that dominated the process of its formulation. While positively evaluating it, the Party stated our reservations regarding many of its articles and items. We also stressed that the draft constitution, despite its importance, must not be as a final document, especially as it contains mechanisms and rules that allow for changing what we consider to be contravening the desired civil - democratic character of the constitution, limit women rights and vagueness of some of its articles rendering them open to interpretation. This requires building up the necessary prerequisites to transform it into a civil constitutional document for a modern democratic state.

Based on this assessment of the draft, we call upon our party members, our supporters, and all our people to vote "yes" for the constitution that would be the first Iraqi constitution to be ratified in a public referendum.

On this occasion, we reiterate our position in support of the political process, looking forward to its completion, and to the forthcoming elections taking place on time. We want these elections to be characterized by transparency, integrity and free competition on the basis of political programs and free choice, without any kind of coercion and pressure. Shortcomings and faults that marred the previous elections must be eliminated.

This requires that the government, its bodies, and the Independent Higher Commission supervising the elections be neutral and provide the necessary prerequisites and conditions, especially security, to conduct the forthcoming elections and ensure its success. This will create a climate of confidence and calm, contributing to security, defeat of the forces of terror and their wicked schemes, and moving forward to provide the prerequisites for ending foreign military presence and building a unified federal democratic Iraq.

The forthcoming elections also require that all patriotic and democratic forces coordinate their efforts and develop joint actions to mobilize the broadest sections of the people and prepare them for participating in these elections. The aim is to ensure that the election results will be truly representative of the political and social balance of forces in our country, putting an end to the sectarian and ethnic polarization and its disastrous consequences, and to the odious policy of sharing the monopoly of power. This will contribute to consolidating the civil - democratic rights stipulated in the constitution, enabling Iraq to achieve security and stability, strengthen its national unity, restore its full sovereignty and advance along the path of construction and development.

Baghdad

2-10-2005