Violence in Iraq down but remember the human stories

The New York Times reports that the number of combined military and civilian deaths in Iraq for October hit the lowest monthly level since May 2004 but the tragedy of one family in Kirkuk is a reminder of just how dangerous life in Iraq continues to be.

Iraqi Communist Party views on the Iraqi-American agreement

Media reports about Iraqi Communist Party meeting in Baghdad on the Iraq - U.S. Agreement

31/10/2008

The Iraqi Communist Party organised a big meeting in Baghdad on Friday 30-10-2008 to present its position on the proposed Iraq - U.S. Agreement. The meeting, attended by about 1000 people, was addressed by Hameed Majid Mousa, the Secretary of the Central Committee of the party. The following are excerpts from media coverage of the event as reported by news agencies:

The leader of the Iraqi Communist Party, Hameed Majid Mousa, announced the party's position, rejecting the security agreement in its present form, and calling for amendments to it, in addition to scheduling the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Mousa said the party will not agree to pass the Agreement with the U.S. unless the recent amendments demanded by the Iraqi government are made. He added that the American side is using illegitimate and deceitful means to pass the agreement as currently drafted

Mousa, who is also a member of the Iraqi parliament, said that the present draft agreement with its articles 'does not fulfil the aspirations of the Iraqi people, and contains a lot of vagueness and uncertainty.

'We must always demonstrate a high sense of responsibility with regard to the consequences of the agreement and its applications, in order to achieve the fundamental objective sought from it: the withdrawal or evacuation of foreign troops, and the Iraqi people regaining their sovereignty and independence. The armed forces must be qualified and provide the alternative to foreign troops. We are therefore facing an urgent and grave task that requires providing the prerequisites for an agreement that enables the Iraqis to secure their rights.'

The Iraqi CP leader stressed the need to have open and transparent negotiations as well as relying on the mobilization of the masses when demanding to amend the terms of the draft agreement, pointing to the lack of parity between the Iraqi and American negotiators.

He criticized what he described as the media campaign, by American and Arab media that dealt with agreement. 'There has been a huge publicity campaign by U.S. media claiming that Iraq will return to the state of chaos that prevailed after the fall of the former regime in 2003, and that it would lose the aid and support given to it in the area of arming and training Iraqi security forces, and other matters, in an attempt to undermine the Iraqi side in the negotiations.'

Mousa described these threats as 'nothing but hollow drums designed to force the Iraqi side to sign the security agreement with Washington against its will.'
He said: 'If you have followed the U.S. media, you would be amazed by what has been said. Unfortunately, many of the Arab and regional media have also behaved in a similar manner, despite having different intentions. But they have exerted pressure, in various ways, on the Iraqi side and employed psychological warfare against the Iraqi negotiators.'

He drew attention to the need 'to amend the terms concerning control over the American mail entering Iraq so that the Iraqi side has the authority to control and inspect it.' In addition, 'the powers of U.S. troops on Iraqi territory need to be specified.' The agreement need to include 'protection for Iraqi funds in all countries of the world, and not to be confined to Iraqi funds in U.S. banks.'

The Iraqi Communist Party leader pointed to the ratification by the Council of Ministers in the past few days of a memo that contained the demands of Iraqi political forces to amend the terms of the draft agreement, so as to form the basis for its conclusion. He called at the same time on the Iraqi parties to take a unified position through which a fair agreement can be secured without coercion or pressure directed on the Iraqi side.