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Iraqi-American Fawaz Saraf emails:
Below is a link to an article in Elaf reporting on the news conference given by Ahmad Chalabi following the announcement of the Iraqi National Congress List for the upcoming December elections (List 569).
The program announced by the INC appears to represent the most enlightened prospect for the future of Iraq. Following are key elements of the INC program:
1 – Equal distribution of Iraq’s oil wealth and the adoption of the oil dividend concept wherein every Iraqi citizen is guaranteed his or her equal share of Iraq’s oil wealth. The INC program appears to support the progressive view that Iraq’s oil wealth should be distributed directly to the citizens of Iraq and not routed through grandiose government projects and spending programs.
((refer to the Wall Street Journal editorial of August 17, 2005 for additional details this concept as proposed by Chalabi).
2 – Fully supports the establishment of regional governments within Iraq and emphasizes that the newly adopted constitution guarantees the rights of the provinces to form regions. The program further emphasizes that a federal system for Iraq is the best guarantee for Iraq’s unity.
((in my view only a federal system with strong regional governments is capable of avoiding past pitfalls of (and massacres associated with) pursuing the ideology of Arab Nationalism or the parochial flag-waving Iraqi nationalism. Rather, a federal system guarantees the right of diverse groups within Iraq to freely respond to their emotions, regardless of whether those emotions are triggered by their religious of ethnic heritage)).
3 – Ahmad Chalabi praised Sistani’s highly positive contribution to the political process in post Saddam Iraq while emphatically rejecting the concept of an Islamic political system for Iraq.
In my view, the above key policy statements along with Chalabi’s proven anti-Baathist record, should make List 569 one of the better choices for consideration by the Iraqi electorate.
Fawaz Saraf
http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/Politics/2005/11/102593.htm
Juxtaposing this with the current French riots leads to the astonishing observation that in the new millenium, war is waged by winning over the opposing public as much as by military action -- and France and Iraq are two fronts in the same war. Democracy moves forward in the heart of the Islamic world, even while Islamofascism makes headway in the heart of Europe.
Islamofascists seek to impose Islam on France through violence, intimidation, and by convincing the French people that they themselves are to blame for the poverty and unemployment of the Islamic population in France. MSM doggedly espouses that view, as seen in quotes such as this from CNN:
The rioting began last Thursday in Clichy-sous-Bois after two teenagers were accidentally electrocuted and a third was injured while apparently trying to escape from police by hiding in a power substation. Officials have said police were not chasing the boys.
But the original cause has been all but forgotten as residents of other communities -- weary of poverty, unemployment and discrimination against the large immigrant and Muslim populations -- have vented their frustration.
I've debunked that view in detail here.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, Democracy is winning the hearts and minds of the people, by providing them a way to control their own lives and their own destiny, and to seek prosperity and success.
I believe there is no doubt at all that Democracy will win, although this may be reasonably expected to take decades.
But we must make sure to minimize the loss of life to Democratic nations along the way. We must work hard not to get nuked by Islamofascists.
And we must work hard to control immigration to the U.S. from Islamic nations so as to avoid the sort of pain France is suffering at this time.
