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| Iraq |
| Baker-Hamilton report squeezed out of frozen mentality of Cold War |
| 2006-12-08 |
| The Kurds don't much like the ISG report either. Some very good points here.The report lacks the fundamental understanding of the Iraqi and Middle Eastern issues; hence it is the total distortion of facts. It does not approach the Iraqi or the Middle Eastern issue from the contemporary human and ethnic rights issues; rather it would build Iraq and the Middle East upon fear of the strongest, killers and abusers, and those who have no respect for human rights. It satisfies the greed of the killers by giving them more catches; it feeds more blood to the Dracula by providing them more lives; it keeps the oppressor happy by persecution of the defenceless. If the recommendations were ever acted upon, it would be a recipe for further disasters in Iraq and in the Middle East, and most likely it may spill the Iraqi problems to the region and the West, including the USA. It is pro-Turks and pro-Arabs, totally undermine Kurds and their achievements. If they were alive today, Michelle Aflaq and Ataturk would have eulogized the 'Iraq Study Group' for their achievement. Kurds and all other democratic forces must fight it; undermine it and bring it down to bury it in the mud where it belongs. This piece of writing has just escaped the frozen mentality of the cold war period. If these people are the leading thinkers of America, then I fully understand why over 2,800 US soldiers have been killed and over 2,100 injured in Iraq so far. Such ignorant people may think that they play political games, but they should take full responsibly for the bloodied situation in Iraq and the Middle East and the disastrous consequences of theirreal politicks. It is an irony that the most powerful nation on earth produces this piece of recipe for further disaster. It shows how commercial interests blind policy makers. The report is based on undermining the very little progress that Kurds and Iraqis have achieved. These appear in a number of recommendations to make Arab states, Iran and Turkey happy on the account of Kurds. The report recommends: - Abolishing federal Iraq, i.e. abolishing Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) - Taking oil out of the control of the KRG - Abolishing Article 140 of the current Iraqi Constitution and confining KRG in its current boundaries, which is about 50 percent of southern or Iraqi Kurdistan. - Demolish the Peshmerga forces and leave the Iraqi central government to control all armed and security forces The buzz words in the report are the ones tickling the sentiments of Arab, Turkish and Iranian nationalists, such as "national reconciliation" and "Iraqis", concepts that have no existence on the bloodied ground of Iraq. It does not acknowledge any Kurdish achievements. Throughout its 84 pages, the report does not mention "Kurdistan Regional Government" even once. The report failed to recognise any Kurdish political entity, effectively dismisses Kurdistan as a federal region of Iraq. It does mention "Kurdish administrated region", depraving homeland from Kurds, implying that Kurdistan is a part of Iraq but currently administrated by Kurds. Later, the report proposes to demolish this "Kurdish administrated region", but in a clever way, taking its financial and political control, to reduce it down to a manageable entity so that it can be abolished. The report can be regarded as a declaration of American defeat in Iraq. Here are some paragraphs to stipulate these concepts: RECOMMENDATION 26: Constitution review. Review of the constitution is essential to national reconciliation and should be pursued on an urgent basis. The United Nations has expertise in this field, and should play a role in this process. RECOMMENDATION 28: Oil revenue sharing. Oil revenues should accrue to the central government and be shared on the basis of population. No formula that gives control over revenues from future fields to the regions or gives control of oil fields to the regions is compatible with national reconciliation. RECOMMENDATION 30: Kirkuk. Given the very dangerous situation in Kirkuk, international arbitration is necessary to avert communal violence. KirkukÂ’s mix of Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen populations could make it a powder keg. A referendum on the future of Kirkuk (as required by the Iraqi Constitution before the end of 2007) would be explosive and should be delayed. This issue should be placed on the agenda of the International Iraq Support Group as part of the New Diplomatic Offensive. RECOMMENDATION 50: The entire Iraqi National Police should be transferred to the Ministry of Defense, where the police commando units will become part of the new Iraqi Army. Similarly, the Iraqi Border Police are charged with a role that bears little resemblance to ordinary policing, especially in light of the current flow of foreign fighters, insurgents, and weaponry across IraqÂ’s borders and the need for joint patrols of the border with foreign militaries. Thus the natural home for the Border Police is within the Ministry of Defense, which should be the authority for controlling IraqÂ’s borders. RECOMMENDATION 51: The entire Iraqi Border Police should be transferred to the Ministry of Defense, which would have total responsibility for border control and external security. The Iraqi Police Service, which operates in the provinces and provides local policing, needs to become a true police force. It needs legal authority, training, and equipment to control crime and protect Iraqi citizens. Accomplishing those goals will not be easy, and the presence of American advisors will be required to help the Iraqis determine a new role for the police. RECOMMENDATION 52: The Iraqi Police Service should be given greater responsibility to conduct criminal investigations and should expand its cooperation with other elements in the Iraqi judicial system in order to better control crime and protect Iraqi civilians. In order to more effectively administer the Iraqi Police Service, the Ministry of the Interior needs to undertake substantial reforms to purge bad elements and highlight best practices. Once the ministry begins to function effectively, it can exert a positive influence over the provinces and take back some of the authority that was lost to local governments through decentralization. To reduce corruption and militia infiltration, the Ministry of the Interior should take authority from the local governments for the handling of policing funds. Doing so will improve accountability and organizational discipline, limit the authority of provincial police officials, and identify police officers with the central government. RECOMMENDATION 53: The Iraqi Ministry of the Interior should undergo a process of organizational transformation, including efforts to expand the capability and reach of the current major crime unit (or Criminal Investigation Division) and to exert more authority over local police forces. The sole authority to pay police salaries and disburse financial support to local police should be transferred to the Ministry of the Interior. |
| Posted by:phil_b |
| #6 JosephM, dear, if you want us to read things, you need to give a link... at least for those of us not as computer savvy as you. Thanks! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-12-08 22:54 |
| #5 See also SPACEWAR.com article = A NEW PEARL HARBOR. Victory in 44 months or CO-POTUS HILLARY??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-12-08 21:16 |
| #4 If we're going to drastically alter the meaning & makeup of NATO, might as well trash the whole thing and start a new arrangement. With the collapse of the USSR, NATO largely lost its reason for being. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-12-08 20:07 |
| #3 James Baker is in the same category as Jimmah Kahtah, and has about as much credibility. The rest of the group was there for window dressing. Their entire effort was a waste of time, and should be flushed, along with that "koran" from Gitmo. It's becoming pretty plain that unless the military asserts itself in Turkey, that nation is no longer our "friend" or "ally". It's time to rethink the composition of NATO. The French should be completely excluded. We should think very hard about allowing the Belgians to continue to participate. The newly-independent regions of Eastern Europe "get it", and are welcome. I'm not so sure about Turkey, Greece, Albania, or any of the former Yugoslavian territories. Maybe we need to change the name, change the mission, and include states such as Japan, Australia, and India. If we succeed in Iraq, we may have another friend there. Regardless of what happens, the United States needs to rethink who its friends are, and whom they should have what kinds of relations with. The Cold War status-quo no longer works, and Baker's bullsh$$ proves that far too many people still think along those lines. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-12-08 14:57 |
| #2 Agreed. Yesterday I was struck by how pretty much everybody has something bad to say about the Dhimmi Recommendations. If you put Baker in charge, you know what to expect. If you want to put your enemies, critics, and fair-weather friends in a weak position, what else would you do? Still, the standard by which to judge progress in WW IV is when and how we crush Syria's and Iran's ambitions -- if not crushing the countries themselves. Aligning even Democrats against Baker is a necessary but not sufficient condition for victory. |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2006-12-08 10:15 |
| #1 More and more I am suspecting that this B-H report is an effort to severely undermine the occupation critics. 1) It takes away ambiguity. There is strength in saying that "something must be done"; but when concrete proposals are made, they can be criticized. 2) Some of the proposals are already being done, some were already planned, and some are outrageous and obviously flawed. People love obvious choices. 3) The administration can cherry pick just those things already being done and planned anyway; this is a "have cake and eat it, too" situation. 4) The occupation has accomplished all of its major milestones, so how do you judge success or need-for-improvement (not! "failure"), at this point? 5) It does give cover to the US turning over control to Iraqi forces complete, leaving just cadres attached to their major units. The US can now just retire to its bases and let the Iraqis solve their own internal disputes the Iraqi way. 6) Even if a civil war is inevitable, the Sunnis will lose and be severely punished. While many will flee the country, the rest will just be humbled. The US can do nothing and deplore "Iraqi on Iraqi violence". |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-12-08 08:43 |