bush* Wants UN to Sweet Talk Sistani

[leftchick]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FE0CC115-FDF7-4EA1-B12E-C0E1AB296969.htm

<snip>
The US is expected to ask the United Nations to send a team to Iraq to convince a leading cleric to drop his demand for direct elections.

Diplomats said the request would be presented on Monday by US occupation administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Bremer, Annan and a delegation from the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council are due to discuss Iraq's political future in a high-stakes meeting in New York.

The meeting has taken on new urgency since the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shia Muslims, Grand Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani, demanded direct elections before the planned handover of power to Iraqis on 30 June.

......lots of luck fellas... :eyes:

[Guaranteed]

1. Sistani's in the driver's seat, here.

And he knows it.

Bush should have never said he wanted to get out by the end of June. Reminds me of that old Simpsons episode where the Germans buy the power plant from Burns, and then they tell him that they're desperate to sell it back to him- "Advantage: Burns."

All Sistani has to do is play a waiting game. He can demand whatever he wants, and Bush is going to have to give it to him, as long as Bush has to adhere to this political timetable.

[leftchick]

2. very interesting power play going on here....

Unfortunately for our soldiers the chimps* negotiating skills are sorely lacking. They will be the ones to suffer if he screws this up because of politics. Fuck the election you aWol* coward! :grr:

[Guaranteed]

3. Yup.

Again, diplomacy is not Bush's strong suit.

I believe this particular aspect of the "regime change"- the Shiites coming into power- was what Putin was refering to when he said invading Iraq would be a "grave error."

[Bridget Burke]

4. When BBCAMERICA covered the story this AM...

They linked the upcoming US elections with the sudden desire for help.

The first story was the latest deaths in Iraq.

[teryang]

5. We won't be leaving anytime soon

The colonialists want a piece of paper for PR purposes. Whatever the terms are, they won't be adhered to.

[peekaloo]

6. hmmmmm...."irrelevant debating society"

:think:

Would have loved to be an "engaged" fly on the wall when little Paul came running home for assistance from his emperor.

[Bonobo]

7. A complete reversal! How embarrassing!!

This SHOULD be a much bigger issue. I mean if you want to wipe the Chimp's face in the poo, this is a GOOD issue. I mean the UN wasn't even mentioned in the Nov. 15 US plan/agreement. Now he wants the UN to handle everything!

I haven't seen it on TV, but my paper ptinted a Washington Post article. It says:

"The US plans to ask the UN on Monday to play an active tole in virtually every aspect of the political transition in Iraq, from overseeing the selection of an Iraqi government and writing new laws to the transfer of power when the US occupation ends on June 30, senior US officials said Friday."

WTF! I say slam him on this one big time! Especially Clark or Kerry is in the best position to do so!

:kick:

[Malva Zebrina]

8. He is going to abandon it, like he abandoned Afganistan

and he is seeking someone to take the blame for what will follow--ie the United Nations.

Slime is all I can think of to describe this man, this coward, who had to resort to stealth , not votes, to win an election and who then proceeded to take the contry into two wars, costing us enormous amounts of money, while our people are not fully covered for health care, our education system is pathetic, seniors have been exploited again, and we spent more than 150 billion on occupying Iraq--we paid that money to kill thousands of innocent people on the lies of this cowardly AWOL man, who loves to dress up in costume, who is, concurrently raising obscene amounts of million and millions of dollars, using the same tax payers money, for his next bid at election.

He is slime

[Bonobo]

9. Slime is it. What else can you say?

Your response made me shudder. All laid out like that...
It's hard to even imagine the damage he's done. It makes me wish I believed in Hell so that I could be comforted that he would burn there. And I truly mean that.

[SOS]

10. Exactly

Bush wants out by July so he can declare "victory" at the Republican Convention. Denying "one person, one vote" to the Iraqi people makes a mockery of his democracy claims.
So now, after insulting the UN for 2 years, he wants to dump his miserable failure into the their lap. Good luck Shrub!
Bush is playing Texas High School football, too stupid to realize that the rest of the world is playing chess.