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Iraq
Nassiriya summit a failure
2003-04-16
More succinct than The Guardian's assessment, but the same idea...
IRNA -- The first summit attended by members of the various Iraqi opposition groups, US officials and military commanders held in a military base in Nassiriya ended in failure on Tuesday.
"Yep. A flop. Might as well have stayed home..."
According to IRNA correspondents, except for a 13-point statement and an agreement to meet again 10 days later, the summit achieved no agreement on issues of contention.
Nuttin'. Zilch. Zippo. Why was that, you ask?
It was boycotted by the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI) as well five other main nut dissident groups. According to Abdolaziz Hakim, a leading member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution, the council did not participate in the summit because they couldn't have their way it was intended to enforce US dominance and hegemony over any other foreign state in the future affairs of Iraq. The summit ended with participants agreeing to hold another summit ten days later, according to IRNA's correspondents. Outside the summit's venue, thousands of Iraqis held a demonstration carrying banners protesting the Iraqi opposition members meeting inside as not being clergymen the real representatives of the people.
Unless we come down hard on SAIRI and the other armed groups, we're going to continue having trouble with them. You heard it here first, even though it doesn't take 20-20 vision to see it.
Posted by:Fred Pruitt

#1  Agreed, and it'll take disabling Iranian influence to do it
Posted by: Frank G   2003-04-16 16:15:53  

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