The following is an archived copy of a message sent to the CASI Analysis List run by Cambridge Solidarity with Iraq.
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[ This message has been sent to you via the CASI-analysis mailing list ] That would be a recipe for disaster. Re-Baathification never happened. Negroponte objected to many of the re- Baathification plans. The Iraqi government more or less did what the Americans wanted. E.g. no amnesty was given to people suspected in involvement in attacks on coalition forces. If you use the US military to ''defeat'' the Baathists, then you may get little more security, but at the price of turning Iraq into a police state. The elections in Iraq would then only be a little more democratic than the elections organised by Saddam Hussein. Clearly a democracy can only work if almost 100% of the people are in favor of a democratic system. Imagine what would have happened in the US if 1% of the Kerry supporters had taken up arms to overthrow Bush! So, any move toward a democracy in Iraq must necessarily involve convincing people to voluntarily give up violence. Quoting Yasser Alaskary <yasser@iprospect.org.uk>: > > 1.. Stopping the process of re-Baathification. Why it should come as a > surprise that the new Iraqi security forces continue to be 'infiltrated' > when Baathists are actively recruited and reinstated in top-level positions > is staggering. Building Iraq's security around the people who wish to > destroy it is sheer stupidity and dangerously incompetent. Furthermore, > this process has only served to alienate those who suffered under the Baath > regime, especially amongst the Shia and Kurds, and has done nothing to > pacify or appease non-Baathist Sunnis. > 2.. Actively rounding up any 'former' Baathists associated with Saddam's > security forces and local Baathist ring-leaders. For the first few months > after the war, when most Baathists had fled their neighbourhoods and were > in hiding, the security situation was remarkably calm. When they found they > were not being hunted, they grew in confidence and began to launch attacks. > There has been a sustained upsurge in terrorist activity since then, > dramatically increasing after re-Baathification was launched in the summer. > We should have them on the run, not giving them the freedom and time to > plan and organize more terror. They should be living in fear of being > arrested, not inflicting fear on the people of Iraq. > 3.. Reinvigorate the process of de-Baathification. The Baath Party has > not been defeated by the war as many of its key members are still in > positions of power, helping their 'comrades' on the outside (see the IPO's > November 1, 2004 analysis for examples of this). > Before an enemy can be defeated, it must be identified. The US-led > coalition and the Interim Iraqi Government can continue to convince > themselves that the insurgency is not Baathist at its core; they can > continue with the failed process of re-Baathification. However, the > Fallujah phenomenon will be repeated again and again and Iraq's security > will spiral even more out of control and ultimately innocent Iraqis will > pay the price. > > The can find this page online at: http://www.iprospect.org.uk/na19nov.html > > News Analysis brought to you by the Iraqi Prospect Organisation - > http://www.iprospect.org.uk > The Iraqi Prospect Organisation is a network of young Iraqi men and women > promoting democratic values in Iraq. > > > > _______________________________________ > Sent via the CASI-analysis mailing list > To unsubscribe, visit > http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-analysis > All postings are archived on CASI's website at http://www.casi.org.uk > -- _____________________________________________________________________ Zon Gratis ADSL. De voordelen van gratis internet met de snelheid van ADSL. Zonder abonnementskosten en zonder vast contract. Je betaalt alleen voor de tijd online. Nu zonder aansluitkosten en met gratis modem. Bestel snel op zonnet.nl. _______________________________________ Sent via the CASI-analysis mailing list To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-analysis All postings are archived on CASI's website at http://www.casi.org.uk