Woolsey: Why not use 1925 constitution?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Probably because it would get us out of there before the oil concession is set up properly for the folks in Bushco.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/11/12/cnna.woolsey.cia.report/

<snip>
BLITZER: Beyond the Iraqi Governing Council?

WOOLSEY: Well, Bernard Lewis, the great expert at Princeton on the Middle East, and I wrote a piece in The Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago that said why not use the 1925 constitution and appoint the governing council as the senate under the constitution? It's appointed by a constitutional monarch. And there's an elected parliament under it. They can amend the constitution.

So I think they've already got an interim constitution, if they'll use it.

BLITZER: What about the Afghan model that Paul Bremer apparently is looking at right now, even though some say Afghanistan is a very different country than Iraq?

WOOLSEY: It is a very different country. But the nice thing about this 1925 constitution is it's the Afghan model already in existence. The Iraqis didn't decide to give up their 1925 constitution. It was taken from them by military and then Baathist coups. They'd have to appoint a temporary constitutional monarch, but that I think could be doable. He wouldn't have to have long-term power.

BLITZER: Where do you stand on this debate whether NATO should take over? Or the U.N., for that matter.

WOOLSEY: Well, NATO couldn't even reinforce Turkey before the war, when they were under threat last spring, because even though they requested it, the French vetoed it. So we can't just wave a wand and say NATO will do such and such.

<snip>

[RandomKoolzip]

1. "Wave a wand?"

THis asshole's disrespect for the wishes of other, smaller, sovereign nations will exact a karmic toll on him. Maybe a job loss is in his future....

[IndianaGreen]

2. From a legal fig leaf point of view, this idea has real merit

but as it was pointed out, the contracts signed by Bremer will be voided by such an approach.

[alcuno]

3. Woolsey is an idiot. The 1925 constitution provides for a monarch.

It's like having the US Constitution without a president as part of the equation. Hmmm. Wait a minute....

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. Gee. Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

LOL

[qanda]

9. Yes he is an idiot.

He was on Softball with Chris Matthews and I will never understand where they get these creatures from. He sounded like he is totally insane.

[NNN0LHI]

27. Kind of hard to imagine that nut in charge of the CIA for two years n/t

[hang a left]

5. Sure that is doable..............right.

"They'd have to appoint a temporary constitutional monarch, but that I think could be doable. He wouldn't have to have long-term power."

Gee...I wonder who might be appointed and who would do the appointing? Stupid question. Can you say Chalabi?

[On the Road]

6. Actually, It's Not a Bad Idea

There would be no opportunity for the US, Chalabi, or anyone else to fool around with the wording and slip in all kinds of undesirable provisions.

The question of who would be King is another matter. If it's like European countries, the real power may be in the parliment and it may not matter all that much. The monarch could even be a widely respected religious leader. What would really be need is a Marshall-Tito-like figure in the key position to divide power, resources, and jobs among all parts of the country to prevent the new government from disintegrating into civil war.

[hang a left]

7. What about all the contracts already signed?

What about all the Iraqi property that has been sold?

[IndianaGreen]

8. Iraq has a living heir to the throne, Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein

During the recent American and British bombing of Iraq, State Department and Pentagon officials met with Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, the 42-year-old heir to the throne of a short-lived modern Iraqi monarchy that ended 40 years ago.

Ali, who leads the Constitutional Monarchy Movement, survived a revolution in 1958 that toppled his cousin, the last King, Faisal II. The King was killed, along with the Crown Prince, Abdullah. Ali, then only 2 years old, was taken out of Iraq by his parents, both of whom were also related to the royal families of Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Ali's grandfather, the Emir of Mecca, was the uncle of Iraq's first modern King, Faisal I, who had been handed the throne of Iraq by the British in 1921.

Britain, given a mandate to rule Iraq after the collapse of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in World War I, quickly set about establishing a parliamentary system in Iraq (also short-lived) and decided to crown it with a constitutional monarchy. This, after all, was Mesopotamia, home to the some of the greatest monarchies of ancient history.

Ali, whose family went to Lebanon from Iraq and who now lives in London, commands only a small movement, other Iraqi exiles say. But he thinks nonetheless that the idea of a constitutional monarchy still has resonance in Iraq.

http://www.iraqcmm.org/cmm/nyt-990103.html

[hang a left]

10. I have never even heard of this guy.

THank you.

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/030701/2003070102.html

Al-Sharif Ali Bin al-Hussein, the chairman of the Royal constitutional movement in Iraq said he might visit Syria in the context of his current tour on several Arab states he had already started last week in the United Arab Emirates UAE.

In a statement to the UAE al-Khaleij daily, al-Sharif Bin Ali explained that in case he assumes power in Iraq, he will work for the establishment good relations with Syria "because it is a neighborly and sisterly country and the interests of the two people requires the maintaining of such relations."

On the future relations between Iraq and Iran, al-Sharif said the two neighborly countries should be careful against attempts aiming at creating problems between the two countries.

He expressed his confidence that the wisdom of the Iranian leadership will not permit it interfere in the Iraqi affairs and not to provide any material and military support to Iraqi sides to be used in acts against Iraq's stability.

snip

on edit: I would like to know a little bit more about him and his allegiances.

[mobuto]

15. I volunteer to be king.

I'd be willing to suffer the slings and arrows and road-side improvised explosive devices of outrageous fortune for the oppressed Iraqi people.

It is good to be the king.

[DuctapeFatwa]

11. LOL As an excuse to crown who king?

I don't think the Iraqi people are interested in a monarchy.

I think they are interested in getting the Crusaders the fuck out of their country, getting some food and water and medicine and the lights back on.

[PsychoDad]

25. We could have "won a lot of hearts and minds"...

If we had placed human needs and necessities before the persuit of oil and pacification of the natives. You know, done something that would have shown we cared about the people of Iraq, and not the profits of american companies.

A novel idea would have been having a plan in place to assist the people and rebuild the infrastructure once the Saddam administration was toppled. Oh yeah, an exit stratagy would have been nice too. (anyone remember the Powell doctrine? Which was totally abandoned by shrubco)

The fact that these were never in place or even seemingly contemplated indicates to me that these were never a priority. Withdrawing, and placing the future of iraq in the hands of the iraqi people was never an option.

Bush has screwed this up as badly as everything else he and his cronies have touched. It's too late to try and repair the damage we have done to the iraqi people with this administration (as if they would want to). The moral thing would be to try and address the needs of the people of Iraq, then withdraw, allowing time to heal the grevious wounds we have caused, as in Vietnam.

Having a government is a nice thing. Having a meal is a better thing.

[dansolo]

12. When was Turkey under threat?

I don't recall any sort of threat to Turkey at any time. Why is Woolsey repeating this crap?

[Zhade]

13. Please tell me on which planet a monarchy equals a democracy?

NT!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

14. GB has a Queen.

[Zhade]

22. True. But their system evolved. This one will be imposed.

Kind of a big difference, in my view. Why in the world call it a democracy (in the non-monarchy sense of the term as TraitorCo intend it to be understood) and then appoint a king?

[Maple]

18. Canada has a monarchy

as does the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Denmark etc etc.

[Zhade]

23. Yeah - see above for a better attempt on what I meant.

Sloppy on my part, d'oh!

[PsychoDad]

26. On planet Shrubo

Where complient monarchies and dictatorships that tow the BFEE line are the shining beacons of "Demoncracy".

[0007]

16. CNN receives anorder from the White House and Woolsey whores for both.....

and the American folks is lead to believe that this a straight talk, and they believe it.

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. If it worked so well in 1925

Then what happened in the mean time?

One has to question whether people like Woolsey could ever survive in a world where you were held accountable for the things you did and said, like the other world that the rest of us live in.

[Zhade]

24. In such a world, Woolsey would have been killed long ago.

If, for example, this were the Old West in the romanticized sense, Woolsey would have become a tenant at Boot Hill a looooooooooooong time ago.

[Maple]

19. There was a more recent

constitution. From right before the coup by Saddam I believe.

They could simply use that one.

Tweak it a bit for updates, and they're in business.

[weldon_berger]

21. That's the ticket.

It's the 1958 constitution, which was eviscerated by Saddam but could easily be tweaked well enough to get a government up and running, at least according to a fair number of scholars familiar with it. Juan Cole, a history professor who has a great Iraq-related blog, has suggested the idea along with several others.

Woolsey is one of the people who has been floating for some time the notion of installing the uncle of Jordan's King Abdullah in the constitutional monarch position. The logic is that the Hashemite family has some street cred among the Shiites and previous experience governing the country, even though it ended in tears. And unc got passed over for the throne in Jordan, so he does have some time on his hands.

That said, restoring the monarchy is an absolutely insane notion, not to mention somewhat undemocratic.

[Paschall]

20. Hmmm...

The 1925 Constitution looks extremely weak. Rights are granted to the people, except as "provided by law." And "The King is safeguarded and is not responsible."

http://www.geocities.com/dagtho/iraqiconst19250321.html

Links to the Interim and 1990 Constitutions can be found here: http://www.constitution.org/cons/natlcons.htm