[Mb-civic] Glimmer of Hope (re Iraq) from Cairo conference

[Mha Atma Khalsa]

  http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051123/from_cairo_hope.php 
  
        
  From Cairo, Hope
  
  Ray McGovern
  November 23, 2005
  
          Ray McGovern is a member of the  Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity  (VIPS).  He worked as a CIA analyst for 27 years, and now works  for Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the  Saviour in Washington, DC.
  
  The surprising degree of consensus reached by the main Iraqi factions  at the Arab-League orchestrated Reconciliation Conference in Cairo last  weekend sharply undercuts the unilateral, guns-and-puppets approach of  the Bush administration to the deteriorating situation in Iraq.   The common demand, by Shia and Kurds as well as Sunnis, for a timetable  for withdrawal of occupation forces demolishes the administration’s  argument that setting such a timetable would be a huge mistake.   Who would know better—the Iraqis or the ideologues advising Bush?
  
  Withdrawal Of Occupation Forces
  
  The final communiqué has not been formally released, but linguists at  Al Hayat, the Arab-language newspaper in London, have translated this  key passage into English:
  
      We demand the withdrawal of foreign forces in  accordance with a timetable, and the establishment of a national and  immediate program for rebuilding the armed forces...that will allow  them to guard Iraq’s borders and to get control of the security  situation...
  
  It is no accident that pride of place is given to the demand for  withdrawal and that rebuilding the armed forces comes second. The Bush  administration insists it must be the other way around; i.e., that  rebuilding the Iraqi army is precondition for withdrawal.
  
  Also of note was the conference decision to differentiate terrorism  sharply from “legitimate” resistance and to avoid condemning violence  against occupation troops:
  
      Though resistance is a legitimate right for all  people, terrorism does not represent resistance. Therefore, we condemn  terrorism and acts of violence, killing and kidnapping targeting Iraqi  citizens and humanitarian, civil, government institutions, national  resources and houses of worship.
  
  For good measure, the final communiqué also demanded “an immediate end  to arbitrary raids and arrests without a documented judicial order,”  release of all “innocent detainees” and investigation of “allegations  of torture of prisoners.”
  
  The communiqué’s feisty tone was facilitated by the conspicuous and  unexplained absence of U.S. representatives.  By shunning the  conference, administration officials missed the beginning of a process  that has within it the seeds of real progress toward peace. In addition  to more than 100 Shia, Sunni and Kurdish participants, the conference  was attended by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Algerian President  Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Syria  and Iran—but no U.S. officials.  The gathering was strongly  supported not only by the Arab League but also by the U.N., EU and the  Organization of the Islamic Conference.
  
  All in all, the various Iraqi factions, including interim government  officials, displayed unusual willingness to make the compromises  necessary to reach consensus on key issues—like ending the occupation.  Key Sunni leader Saleh Mutyla had set the tone shortly before the  conference, even though the U.S. chose that time to launch “Operation  Steel Curtain,” the largest foray into Sunni territory this year.  Mutyla nonetheless indicated that the resistance would agree to a  ceasefire in exchange for U.S. withdrawal.
  
  Reaching Out To The Sunnis
  
  One main purpose of the Reconciliation Conference was to engage the  Sunni parties in the political process, and several of the Sunni  participants have close ties with nationalist Sunni insurgents.  Agreement that resistance is a “legitimate right” and the decision not  to apply the word “terrorism” to attacks on occupation forces were two  significant olive branches held out to the Sunnis. In recognizing the  right to resist the occupation, the conference severely undercut Bush  administration attempts to paint Sunnis as Saddam loyalists or Al Qaeda  collaborators. In contrast, the Sunnis were made to feel like  full-fledged partners in this newly begun search for a peaceful  solution sans occupation.
  
  Underscoring that point, Iraqi Interim President Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, made an unprecedented offer:
  
      If those who describe themselves as Iraqi resistance  want to contact me, they are welcome...I am committed to listen to  them, even those who are criminals...
  
  From Washington, Pouting
  
  The administration’s initial reaction seemed designed to put Talabani  and other negotiation-welcoming Iraqi officials in their place. On  Monday, addressing the issue of troop withdrawal, State department  spokesperson Justin Higgins said:
  
      Multinational forces are present in Iraq under a  mandate from the U. N. Security Council.  As President Bush has  said, the coalition remains committed to helping the Iraqi people  achieve security and stability as they rebuild their country.  We  will stay as long as it takes to achieve those goals and no longer.
  
  Yesterday, another State Department spokesperson repeated this mantra  after giving lip service to U.S. support for “the ongoing transitional  political process in Iraq.”
  
  With a full-fledged peace conference scheduled for February, and  elections in mid-December, Washington has little time to waste if it  wants to influence the peace process begun at the Reconciliation  Conference in Cairo.  The demand for the withdrawal of occupation  troops creates an opening. But with the “Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal” and  neoconservative policymakers still in charge, and jittery Democrats  only slowly seeing the light, it is doubtful that the administration  will seize the opportunity—even though doing so would probably enhance  Republican chances in next year’s midterm elections.
  
  This may change, however, because other pressures are mounting.   America’s front-line Army and Marine battalion commanders in Iraq have  gone behind Rumsfeld’s back to spill their guts to Senate Armed Forces  Committee Chair John Warner. And Rep. John Murtha, retired Marine and a  leading defense advocate on the Hill, has introduced a bill calling for  troop withdrawal “as soon as practicable.”
  
  Together, that initiative, the mini-mutiny among field-grade officers,  and the outcome of the Cairo conference could conceivably break the  Gordian knot in Congress. In calling for withdrawal, Murtha has made a  critical bridge from the hawkish center to a majority of Americans and  to progressives in Congress.
  
  These recent events open up a new chapter in the history of this war.  Iraqi politics, U.S. public opinion and military necessity all argue  for the United States to lend its support to the national  reconciliation process.  Yet, even faced with such an obvious  chance to climb out of the Iraq quagmire, there is still little sign  that the “Cheney-Rumsfeld Cabal” will be able to veer from the  prevailing predilection to self-destruct.
  
  The president’s current advisers are the same ones who brought us  Iraq—and for reasons other than those given. It would take very strong  pressure to get them to relinquish their twin vision of permanent  military bases in Iraq and influence over what happens to the oil  there. The president is not likely to argue with the ideologues around  him, nor has he shown any willingness to broaden the circle of his  advisers. The only realistic hope may lie with Republican congressional  candidates. Already sweating over the growing unpopularity of the war,  the Republicans running in '06 may be the only ones who can break  through the White House palace guard and argue persuasively against the  increasingly obvious folly of “staying the course.”
  
  
  

		
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