U.N. Envoy Warns U.S. 'Tread Carefully' in Iraq

[G_j]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/international/middleeast/25CND-POLI.html?amp

U.N. Envoy Warns U.S. 'Tread Carefully' in Iraq

By BRIAN KNOWLTON,
Internationl Herald Tribune

Published: April 25, 2004


WASHINGTON, April 25 — The United Nations' special envoy to Iraq strongly warned the United States today against using military force in Falluja or Najaf, two Iraqi cities where tense standoffs continued through the weekend between American forces and heavily armed resistance groups.

The envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, urged the United States "to tread carefully" in Falluja, west of Baghdad, and said that sending tanks into the holy city of Najaf in the south "is not the right thing to do." In such situations, he added, "there is no military solution."

His comments put President Bush, who has associated American planning for the Iraqi political transition with Mr. Brahimi's proposals, in a potentially awkward position.

But both American and Iraqi officials indicated that patience was wearing thin in the besieged cities.

The chief American administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, said that the amassing of weapons by resistance forces in Najaf was creating a perilous situation.

..more..

[demobandit]

1. No offense, but the U.N. doesn't have much respect any more. Taking

money from the shit box Saddam. Not that I'm in favor of the Iraq war, but what they did was clearly illegal.

[markses]

5. Please: Cheney's Halliburton took money from Saddam

through subsidiaries.

Second, we're all still dying to see these so-called documents verified. i think I'll wait for the UN internal investigation before believing a crook like Chalabi. He's already lied us into a war with his bogus WMD claims, so what's stopping him from consolidating power under false auspices? Oh, that's right, the UN! I mean, really. Use your friggin' head.

Finally, even if the charges of bribery did prove true, those would be specific members of the oil for food program and not the UN as an organization. So, for example, simply because members of the Reagan Administration were selling weapons to our enemies in Iran in order to funnel money (in contravention of a Congressional mandate!) to a pack of murderers in Nicaragua doesn't mean that the Reagan Administration is all bad, right? Apply the same principle.

Besides, didn't Former Governor Bush praise the efforts of Mr. Brahimi in his recent press conference?

[demobandit]

10. Now wait a minute, how can you trust any internal investigation by the

organization that is under investigation. What a joke!

[markses]

13. Don't be fatuous

The organization (the UN) isn't what needs to be investigated, but rather several individuals involved in the oil-for-food program. It's like an internal affairs investigation, or any of the several internal investigations within the Administration currently ongoing by the FBI and Federal Attorney's office. The only joke here is your incapacity to see beyond a stunted little ideological commitment.

[hang a left]

2. Chalabi is talking smack about Brahimi.

Mr. Brahimi has proposed dissolving the Iraqi Governing Council on June 30, and he strongly hinted today that he did not see roles for more than "a few" of its members in the transitional government that would then take power. He also made it clear that Ahmed Chalabi, the formerly exiled leader who enjoyed strong Pentagon backing ahead of the war, was unlikely to be among those few.

Asked about Mr. Chalabi on the ABC News program "This Week," Mr. Brahimi said that people heading political groups, like Mr. Chalabi's, should be preparing for elections in January.

Mr. Chalabi responded in a separate appearance on Fox News Sunday. "Mr. Brahimi is an Algerian with an Arab nationalist agenda," Mr. Chalabi said. "He already is a controversial figure in Iraq. He is not a unifying figure." Mr. Chalabi added that Mr. Brahimi "should be more sensitive to the realities of Iraq."

[G_j]

4. and I guess Mr. Chalabi is

a unifying figure?

funny...

[0007]

15. Chalabi is trotted out on FAUX news?

Jays'us fucking christ, next thing 'ya know Toyko Rose and Chalabi will be doing the fox trot to entertain those morans. Brit Hume is nuts.

[markses]

3. Brahimi - damn him - seems intent on saving some lives

He must put a craw the size of Kansas in Bush's throat. Because Bush has no plan on the Iraq handover, he was forced to default to Brahimi at his press conference. the Bushies thought this was a smart piece of pie: any failure would be blamed on Mr. Brahimi and the UN's efforts, rather than sticking to the Idiot Boy and his Pack of Cowardly Generals as it quite rightly should. But, as usual, Bush was outmaneuvered by a foreign national, who has obviously perceived the power he gained by being thus used, and decided to turn the tables on our silly little Mr. Bush in his statements on both the Sharon regimes murderous absurdities and the CPA's bizarre and self-destructive designs for Fallujah. And, in the process, Mr. Brahimi seems dead-set on saving some lives. Well done, sir!

[G_j]

6. good analysis n/t

[oblivious]

8. I like that image.

"He must put a craw the size of Kansas in Bush's throat."

And agree with your analysis.

[KissMyAsscroft]

7. Tread Carefully?

Yeah, wouldn't wanna fuck up and INVADE THEIR COUNTRY or anything.....:eyes:

[G_j]

9. rather careless you say?

over 10,000 civilians killed with daisy cutters, cluster bombs, napalm.... Nuclear plants, antiquities and hospitals looted. The US now has over 20,000 Iraqi prisoners, etc.etc...

[abracadabra]

11. yeah can you imagine the resentment?

Resistance is strengthened by the heavy handed brutal approach the
U S has taken--
The only thing that comes close to this is the way the Nazis knocked down countries, killed , gassed or imprisoned anyone in the way.

One thing the invaders didn't count on ---> the religious faith of the oppressed Iraqis---it gives them a unity that can't be blown away with bombs and special weapons...
Forever now, any American military or not is a target.
Time for us to get out now!
Before any more lives are just wasted for nothing--
Why are we there now anyway?
If it's not oil then what is it?
We're just killing them daily.

[G_j]

12. more than 20,000 Iraqis behind bars

Without hope of a speedy trial or determination of guilt or innocence. This has created incredible resentment. These people have family and friends.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0421-01.htm

Published on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 by the Inter Press Service

Iraq: Think of Those the US Has Detained
We have heard of the U.S. soldier captured by Iraqi fighters. Think of the 20,000 Iraqis being held by the coalition forces.

by Aaron Glantz

BAGHDAD - Private First Class Matt Maupin assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company based at Bartonville, Illinois, became the first prisoner taken by Iraqi insurgents since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The U.S. military is currently holding more than 20,000 Iraqis behind bars -- most of them taken during house to house searches by the U.S. military.

Take the village of Abu Siffa, an hour's drive north of Baghdad. Cattle graze on the side of the road and date palms sway in the wind. The mighty Tigris flows nearby.

Rejan Mohammed Hassen stands in front of the rubble that was her house and recalls the night last summer when the U.S. Army took her sons and destroyed her house.

..more..

[jeanmarc]

14. That envoy screwed up

He should have used reverse pyschology on the alcoholic warmonger.