Handover my Ass........

[never cry wolf]

The governing council is just essentially changing names, or so it would appear according to this article.

Members of dissolved body still hold power
Most hold seats in interim assembly

By Mohamad Bazzi
Tribune Newspapers: Newsday
Published June 28, 2004

BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi Governing Council gave itself life after death.

On the day the 25-member council dissolved itself, June 1, it issued a little-noticed decree that guarantees most of its members seats on the Iraqi National Council, a de facto legislature that will serve until elections are held early next year. The 100-member assembly will have the power to veto laws, approve Iraq's 2005 budget and replace the Iraqi president and two vice presidents in case of death or resignation.

Members of the Governing Council, which was appointed by the U.S.-led occupation last July and was rejected by many Iraqis as illegitimate, also guaranteed themselves seats on an array of committees that will choose the remaining members of the National Council.

By granting itself such wide powers, critics say, the Governing Council risks tainting the legitimacy of the new Iraqi government set to assume sovereignty Wednesday.

"This is the problem that Iraqis have encountered since the occupation's start--there is a lack of transparency in the political process," said Jawdat al-Obeidi, secretary general of the Iraqi Democratic Congress, an umbrella group of 216 small political parties. "The National Council is going to face the same lack of legitimacy that the Governing Council faced."

more---> (free subscritp. req'd.) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0406280189jun28,1,6176454.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

[Triana]

1. My sentiments exactly...get a load of THIS:

Iraq will be an occupied land until the US is but...this "soveriegnty" claim is nothing but smoke and mirrors. Here are a few things to think about:

* Under UN Security Council Resolution 1546, which was adopted unanimously on June 8, the IGI must refrain “from taking any actions affecting Iraq's destiny beyond the limited interim period until an elected transitional government of Iraq assumes office”, now scheduled for January 2006.

* There will be a US-commanded “multinational force” made up of 138,000 US troops and 23,000 troops from other countries.

* The UN resolution gives this army authority to “take all necessary measures to contribute to the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq”, i.e., to undertake military operations without even the formal approval of the IGI.

* The new Iraqi armed forces — currently 7500 troops and the 35,000-member paramilitary Iraqi National Guard — were US recruited and trained.

* Under the interim Iraqi constitution imposed by Bremer, these forces will be “partners” in the multinational force: i.e. they will operate under US military command.

* All the “laws, regulations, orders and directives” issued by the CPA are to remain in full effect after June 30.

* The CPA will be transformed into the largest US embassy in the world, with 1300 US officials and control over US$18.6 billion in “reconstruction” contracts. UN resolution 1546 requires the IGI to honour all contracts awarded by the CPA.

* So far only $3.2 billion of the $18.6 billion “reconstruction” package has been spent — at least $2 billion of it, according to the June 20 Washington Post, on “hiring private guards for contractors, buying them armored vehicles and building secure housing compounds”.

* Only 15,000 Iraqis have been hired as a result of the “reconstruction” program, despite the fact that 60% of the Iraqi work force is unemployed and the program was supposed to provide jobs for 240,000 Iraqis.

* The new US embassy will have branches in all major Iraqi cities to, as US President George Bush put it on May 24, “work closely with Iraqis at all levels of government”.

* On June 30, the 200 US officials directing Iraqi government ministries in Baghdad will be renamed “consultants”, according to June 21 Boston Globe.

Iraqi "soveriegnty" is as much a lie as was the whole premise for the invasion.

[never cry wolf]

Also, bunnypants said in a speech a couple of weeks ago

that the US was setting up seminars to "educate" newly elected or appointed Iraqi officials and they were already flooding the schools with new history books.

The re-indoctrination has started....

[donco6]

2. They only did it so all the violence on June 30

will not be as associated with the handover. That's pretty obvious.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Vichy Iraq?

Didn't the Nazis do the same thing when they "liberated" France?

[funkybutt]

4. Okay..i present to you

your ass

i hand it over