If this is noble, how come everyone feels manipulated?
"We understand the Americans have sided with the Shi'ites. It's shocking. It doesn't fit American values. They have spent so much blood and money here, only to back the creation of an Islamist state ... I can't believe that's what the Americans really want or what the American people want....Perhaps the Americans are negotiating to get a deal at any cost, but we will not accept a constitution at any cost."
A Kurdish negotiator in Iraq, upon hearing that US diplomats have conceded ground to Islamists on the role of religion in Iraq, providing accord on a bigger role for Islamic law than Iraq had before.
The Kurds are ready to blow. To date, the Kurds have not dropped their insistence on language that would allow them to secede from Iraq under "certain circumstances." The Sunni Arabs are going to be furious about being sidelined. Some reports have indicated that Shi'ite cleric al Sistani has formally come out against the incorporation of Kirkuk into Kurdistan, maintaining that the northern oil city is for all Iraqis. Shiite politician Muwaffaq Rubai warned that if the constitution did not enshrine the principle of federalism, a civil war might ensue. Sadrists (Shi'ite) are demonstrating against federalism.
The majority of American people don't want our soldiers hanging around waiting for full blown civil war to happen.
Steve Gilliard says:
"We're asking men to die for the Islamic Republic of Iraq, and I for one do not think they should die for that."Billmon has a blogpost discussing this new information, and he ties in the disappointment that he's wagering will be felt in Iraq by women who've been seeking genuine protection and advancement for their rights in Iraq.
It's not even clear the Cheney administration ever had any serious intention of promoting those values except as a smokescreen for the exercise of American power. When the historians finally write their histories, democracy in Iraq may end up as just another item on the list of bullshit bureaucratic excuses for this war -- behind weapons of mass destruction, but ahead of creating a "flytrap" for terrorists.Swopa at Needlenose has updates from the AP and the NY Times. As I predicted a few days ago, Sunni Arabs are complaining that they are being left out of negotiations. One of four main Sunni negotiators named Saleh al-Mutlaq says that they'd finally convinced the Sunnis to take part in the political process through mosque preachers, who used to condemn such participation, and when they learn they've been sidelined, the 'street' is going to be be angry.
It is increasingly clear, though, that whatever the original face value of Bush's promises of liberation, the American public is no longer willing to pay the price to redeem them.
