So what does it mean if the "Iraqi Constitution" passes ?

[kentuck]

Is it really their Constitution or is it their "declaration of independence"? The Iraqis are voting on hopes of getting the Americans out of their country as much as anything else. But, what will really change once it happens? We should hope that something good could actually happen from this debacle. It would be good to see the people unite into one nation, with one flag, one pledge of allegiance, and one God, but what is really the chance of that happening anytime soon?

In reality, there is probably more killing to come. There are more carbombs to come. There is more political assassination to come. It is unrealistic to think they will all sit down in a circle and hold hands. The genie is out of the bottle. But, just because the nation of Iraq was somewhat united under the dictator, Saddam, does not mean it will be easy to unite once again.

Is it an illusion to think that the "Constitution" is the magic ingredient to get all the groups together for negotiation? Maybe this will be the first step to some type of solution? I hope it is. But, we should look at this realistically and not as we hope it to be. It is a mess. There is a lesson of history here. When you go to war unncessarily, there are unforeseen consequences for an unpredictable amount of time. We cannot predict what will happen in the near future.

[thebigidea]

1. just another meaningless benchmark to pave the way for another...

... even more meaningless benchmark.

We won't actually "transfer sovereignty" until we're forced out with our tail between our legs, as Scott Ritter predicted.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Yes.... we can all sleep easier when the discord in Iraq is

permanently stitched into place by the "constitution".... we have a constitution and if it were possible, more than half of the frigging country would march to D.C. and throw out the garbage.

[tabasco]

9. Exactly right. Doesn't mean Jack Shit.

Just another step in installing a puppet government that will evaporate as soon as our military departs.

Every soldier lost in this war was a tragic waste. At the end of it all, nothing will have been accomplished except for massive profits for the war-profiteering corporations.

[Missy M]

3. I believe a civil war will follow and will last for many years to come!

[rodeodance]

4. bragging rights for the WH.

[NoPasaran]

5. A triumph! Freedom is on the march!

:woohoo:
We've won! Now we can go home!

[annabanana]

6. Our support for Sharia Law will be official..

that's what it means..
It will not change anything on the ground, because the Sunnis are still out in the cold with no influence and no oil. The Kurds are still pretty much autonomous, and the Shia have the driver's seat.

[LynnTheDem]

7. STONING WOMEN to death for adultery. That's one thing it means.

BUSH'S PROGRESS; "Iraq Constitution"!

#1. bush will LIE AGAIN this week about his "PROGRESS" in Iraq;

MOST IRAQIS HAVE NOT EVEN SEEN THE CONSTITUTION THEY'RE TO VOTE ON.

Gee what "PROGRESS"!

It's expected to pass, because the VIOLENCE will keep Iraqis away from the voting booths.

Gee what "PROGRESS"!

Iraqis vote on 'invisible' constitution

Insurgency hampers distribution of crucial document as millions prepare to go to the polls this week...
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article318225.ece

#2. 2000 Americans dead...for an IRANIAN-STYLE ISLAMIC STATE of repressed women in IRAQ;

"Unmaking Iraq, the Constitutional Process Gone Awry,"

The Iraqi constitution as written will push that country toward full-scale civil war, a report from a nonprofit organization warns. Melissa Block talks with Robert Malley, director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East program.
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=3703

"It may well be more of a prelude to civil war than a step forward," Anthony H. Cordesman said in an analysis for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Bush administration endorsed Iraq's proposed new constitution yesterday, but analysts warned that some provisions can be interpreted to undermine everything from the distribution of political power to a secular judiciary, from women's rights to fair distribution of oil revenue.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082402217_pf.html

There are, however, significant doubts about the religious nature of the new constitution...

"It is written by Islamists for Islamists"

Zainab and her friend Zahra, 37, are both deeply apprehensive about the effect the constitution will have on women's rights. Since "liberation" by US-led forces they have seen the growth in the power of Muslim clerics and the diminishing power of choice.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article318609.ece

The Iraqi constitution's downside for women
http://www.juancole.com/2005/09/iraqi-constitutions-downside-for-women.html

Iraqi Women May Lose Basic Rights Under New Constitution
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0723-06.htm

Iraq's Draft Constitution Is Said to Deepen Divide...will likely trigger civil war...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/26/AR2005092601442.html

UN issues warning over Iraq constitution

There are fears that Iraq's draft Constitution, due to go a referendum next week, could trigger the break up of the country and even spark a bloody civil war.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1473209.htm
Americans Die for Sharia (ISLAMIC STATE) in Iraq

It's so Abdul the Iraqi can have six wives. It's so women can be forced to wear the abaya, alcohol can be banned, and sharia law – Muslim religious beliefs as interpreted by a council of mullahs and "grand ayatollahs" – can become the law of the land. As one of the Shi'ite clerics' representatives put it the other day:

"We don't want to see equality between men and women because according to Islamic law, men should have double of women. This is written in the Quran and according to God."
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=4774

#3. Iraq "constitution"...A Lose-Lose Referendum;

Five days before Saturday's referendum on Iraq's proposed constitution, the U.S. foreign policy elite appears both anxious and gloomy, increasingly worried that win or lose, the process will bring Iraq one step closer to civil war and, with it, the possible destabilisation of the wider region.

"We've looked for the constitution to be a national pact, and the perception now is that it's not," Gen. George Casey, the commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, told lawmakers here last week. "Now this constitution has come out, and it didn't come out as a national compact that we thought it was going to be."

Makiya believes the combination of violence and the constitution threatens "the very idea and very possibility of an Iraq".

Barbara Bodine, a veteran diplomat and Middle East expert currently at Harvard University, whose appointment to a senior CPA post after the invasion was blocked by neo-conservatives in the Pentagon, echoed that view.

"The United States has 'Lebanonised' Iraq. It is ironic that a structure that worked so poorly for Lebanon is now the template for Iraq."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1012-03.htm

#4. LUCKY Iraqi women! STONING FOR ADULTERY coming soon!

La Repubblica: "Putting it in a nutshell, there will be no more stoning of adulterous women, is that it?"

Al-Yasari, cleric al Sistani's spokesman:

"Well, it depends. In the case of married women whom eye witnesses can accuse of betraying their husbands, the punishment can only be that. But in any event there will be very few exemplary sentences, and they will always be issued after a fair trial."

Welcome to "liberated" Iraq – that’s what our troops are dying for, and that’s what you’re paying for. It’s medievalism with a "democratic" face.

http://www.iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/39110


White House: Iraq vote would defy insurgency
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-10-14T160746Z_01_EIC458042_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA.xml&archived=False

STONING WOMEN! CIVIL WAR! VOTE for a "constitution" you've never read! That's PROGRESS if you're a bushbot idiot.

[DemBones DemBones]

8. Then the Shiites get their revenge on the Sunnis.

A Shiite sergeant told a reporter embedded with an Iraqi unit that after the constitution and the election, they would do as Saddam had done -- go to every neighborhood, pick five people, and kill them in the streets.

Tyrannizing the populace s probably an effective way to gain control, but hardly what Americans should be fighting to facilitate.


Here's the link:

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001305694

[greekspeak]

10. I swear I heard something to this effect on the news or c-span

I am paraphrasing, but am being serious. This constitution is to see if they can have a constition so they can create a constition that will pave the way for the real constitution. There was of course a lot more pinache when the announcer said it, and there was more involved than just that...a time line I think, etc. However, there were a couple or three constitutions in there.