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The Constitution and the Bum Rush A perceptive reader writes to say that the short deadline for the parliamentary acceptance of the constitution means that most members of parliament probably won’t have time to read or study it carefully before the vote, and there will certainly be no proper debate on it. Is it right […]

Constitution Negotiations reach last Stage Meetings are still being held on the final issues bedeviling the finalization of the Iraqi constitution. Iraqi government spokesmen keep saying that 16 or 17 issues are outstanding and all should be resolved by August 15. In fact, most of these issues are intractable (Should Iraq be a centralized state, […]

Federalism Issue Bedevils Constitution Infighting Undermines Municipal Governments Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), has made his move. Giving a speech in the holy city of Najaf, he demanded that the nine southern Shiite-majority provinces be allowed to form a regional confederation that would deal with the […]

Extension of Japan Mission In Iraq In Doubt ‘ Shingetsu Newsletter No. 58August 9, 2005 Two and a half weeks ago Shingetsu Newsletter No. 44 predicted that the SDF mission in Iraq would certainly be extended into 2006 barring two possibilities: “a collapse of the Koizumi administration due to the bitter infighting caused by the […]

4 US Troops Killed, 6 Wounded Guerrilla War Kills, Wounds, Dozens of Iraqis Reuters reports that near Baiji north of Baghdad, guerrillas killed 4 US soldiers and wounded 6 late Tuesday. In Mosul guerrillas killed 15 persons in spearate incidents, including 2 policement. In Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed 6 and wounded 14 in the […]

US Military Rules of Engagement and the Iraq War An informed reader sent in what I found to be a fascinating reply to my comment that I thought the U.S. military’s rules of engagement were wrong for a clannish society such as Iraq. My point was that as I understood it, the US rules of […]

Iran Issues Statement at IAEA Board of Governors Meeting Corrected version: added additional material after IRNA update IRNA Wednesday, August 10, 2005 T11:39:36Z Journal Code: 2736 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT Document Type: FBIS Transcribed Text Word Count: 1,962 Vienna, Aug 10, IRNA — Iran is a nuclear fuel cycle technology holder, a capability which […]

Samawah Governor Fired Australian Officers Critique US Military in Iraq Al-Sharq al-Awsat and agencies: 28 deaths were reported on Monday and 30 wounded in guerrilla fighting, most of it outside the capital of Baghdad. Guerrillas killed two policemen in Sharqat, 300 km. north of the capital. Likewise, a Turkish truck drive was shot dead in […]

Kurdistan and the Future of Iraq Al-Sharq al-Awsat/ AFP reports that hundres of Kurds demonstrated on Monday in Irbil (Arbil), 350 km north of Baghdad, demanding that their rights be recognized in the permanent constitution now being crafted. The demonstrators gathered in front of the Kurdistan parliament building, carrying placards in Kurdish that said “Stop, […]