Comments on Iraqi consitution voted on in massive turnout

Go to War News You Won't See in the Mainstream MediaAdd a commentGo to Iraqi consitution voted on in massive turnout

Thanks for the comments!

damon, I return the compliment in earnest. If I read you right, you are saying what has been said all along by the Bush administration, that Iraq has retained its soveriegnty throughout all this. Homework assignment: Give me hard evidence, in the form of actual quotes and citations, from the Bush administration to the contrary.

Also, would you be so kind as to identify your source and his or her agenda - oops, credentials? That will surely help in setting the remarks into context.

Finally, concerning legailty of the war - do you then consider the succession of UN sanctions against Iraq, which Saddam chose to ignore and the UN chose not to enforce, illegal as well? How about Saddam's aiding and abetting terrorists, such as subsidizing Palestinian suicide bombers?

Xenox, homework assignment for you: Research and report on growth of tax revenues at state and federal levels since the tax cuts took effect.

 

posted by WriterofLight on October 20, 2005 at 7:26 PM | link to this | reply

it doesn't matter what happens in Iraq
what matters is what happens right here.
we can't support a democracy in Iraq if we succumb to a massive economic recession because of that war's drain on our economy, which is a high possibility.
And what about all the needs here at home? As the war churns on indefinitely, road work, education, public safety, law enforcement -- all these and more will suffer and, as a result, so will we.
Our governments "efforts to restore democracy" over there will destitute our country over here and possibly even threaten our own democracy (as if the administraton hasn't already done that).

posted by Xeno-x on October 19, 2005 at 6:16 AM | link to this | reply

Marvellous...
...piece of spin but, alas, undermined by the reality.

Two selective quotes from my latest STOP THE WARS post written, not by me, but by a Law Professor.

"Furthermore, it was a total myth, fraud, lie, and outright propaganda for the Bush Jr. administration to maintain that it was somehow magically transferring "sovereignty" to its puppet Interim Government of Iraq during the summer of 2004. Under the laws of war, sovereignty is never transferred from the defeated sovereign such as Iraq to a belligerent occupant such as the United States. This is made quite clear by paragraph 353 of U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956): "Belligerent occupation in a foreign war, being based upon the possession of enemy territory, necessarily implies that the sovereignty of the occupied territory is not vested in the occupying power. Occupation is essentially provisional."

If there were any doubt about this matter, paragraph 358 of U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956) makes this fact crystal clear:

358. Occupation Does Not Transfer Sovereignty"


Plus, on the specific matter of the Constitution;

"This brings the analysis to the so-called Constitution of Iraq that was allegedly drafted by the puppet Interim Government of Iraq under the impetus of the United States government. Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Regulations on land warfare flatly prohibits the change in a basic law such as a state's Constitution during the course of a belligerent occupation: "The authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country." This exact same prohibition has been expressly incorporated in haec verba into paragraph 363 of U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956). To the contrary, the United States has demonstrated gross disrespect toward every law in Iraq that has stood in the way of its imperial designs and petroleum ambitions, including and especially the pre-invasion 1990 Interim Constitution for the Republic of Iraq."

So the measures of success you use are irrelevent in the face of the fact that every action in Iraq has been illegal under international law, to which the US is a signatory.

Nice try, though.

D

posted by DamonLeigh on October 18, 2005 at 2:46 AM | link to this | reply