Abu Ghraib jail release fails to swing Sunnis behind constitution

[ray of light]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1753522,00.html

The Sunday Times - World


August 28, 2005

Abu Ghraib jail release fails to swing Sunnis behind constitution
Ali Rifat, Baghdad and Tom Walker

THE head of the Iraqi parliament, Hajim al-Hassani, announced yesterday that the majority Shi’ite and Kurdish factions had agreed on the wording of a new “compromise constitution” which they believed had been amended sufficiently to appease the Sunni minority.
However, Sunni politicians submitted counterproposals, in a move that threatens to prolong Iraq’s political deadlock. Their intransigence raises the possibility that the document will be rejected in a national referendum on October 15.



That would constitute a serious setback to Iraq’s development as an independent state, hampering American and British plans for the withdrawal of troops next year.

Having consistently missed deadlines for the constitution’s final draft for the past two weeks, the Shi’ite and Kurdish negotiators appeared to ride roughshod over their Sunni rivals.

The Sunnis fear that the new constitution will prepare the way for a federal Iraq, in which the oil wealth will be carved up between the Kurdish-dominated north and the Shi’ite south. They are also angry that former members of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated Ba’ath party would be barred from taking public office again.

[othermeans]

1. Too little , tool late n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

2. I'm a little confused here.

Were these 1,000 prisoners being held as hostages or because they were guilty or suspected of being guilty of some crime or because they were prisoners of war? If they were guilty of crimes why are they being let go and what crimes were the charged with? If they are prisoners of war under what authority are they being held? (Legally our occupation of Iraq ended with the so-called transfer of authority.) If they are simply hostages, detained to compel the Sunni community to submit to our authority, that would be a war crime under the prohibition against collective punishment covered by our treaty obligations to the Geneva Conventions.

Exactly how many people are being held in our detention facilities in Iraq? What is their legal status? Shouldn't we know what is being done in our name?

[Mari333]

3. Abu Ghraib holds children, 8, 9, 10 yrs old without parents

we kick down doors of peoples homes and arrest them over there, and detain them for months with no charges. This information from my stepson, who was at Abu Ghraib for one year.

[maddezmom]

4. an article from 3/30/05 had the number at aprrox 10,000

U.S. Holds About 10,500 Prisoners in Iraq
By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, March 30, 2005


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(03-30) 05:07 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --


The United States is holding about 10,500 prisoners in Iraq, more than double the number held in October, the military says.


About 100 of those prisoners are under age 18, said Army Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for detention operations in Iraq.


Five months ago, the military said it was holding about 4,300 prisoners in Iraq. The growth in the prison population has come amid a lingering insurgency in Iraq and despite the formal transfer of power to an interim Iraqi government last June.


The number of U.S.-held prisoners in Iraq declined last summer after international outrage over abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. Revelations of abuse have continued since then; on Friday, the Army released documents detailing a half-dozen prison abuse investigations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

more:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/03/30/national/w050735S04.DTL

[Eloriel]

5. And if they weren't terrorists before...

they're much more likely to be now. It's called: getting politicized.