vendredi 6 juin 2008

Kerkük’ü Türkmenler bırakamazlar


Yazan: Sadun KÖPRÜLÜ

Irak Türklerine karşı Saddam döneminde olduğu gibi, bugünde sinsi asimilasyon
Politikası bu defa Kuzey Irak yönetimi peşmergeler tarafından ağır olarak gündemde yer alarak, Erbil, Kerkük Türklerine karşı yeni uygulamalar, planlar tüm yöneyle sürmektedir.

Son günlerde Türkiye Kürtlerle diyalog kurması ve Dışişleri Bakanlığı Irak Özel Masası Temsilcisi Murat Özçelik,, Bugünlerde Kürt peşmergeler ile görüşmesi, Türkmen şehri Kerkük konusunun gündeme gelmesi önem taşarak, Kerkük ile Kürt peşmergelerin açıklama konuşmaları üç milyonun üstünde olan Türkmenleri tedirgin etmiştir, bu dönemde aynı durumda Saddam dönemi gibi Türkmenlerinin ana haklarına karşı hiçbir ağırlık koyulmamıştır, her gün başka baskılar, planlar, etnik milli soykırımlar sürmektedir.

Çünkü Ne kadar Kürt peşmergeler yönetimiyle ilişki kurulursa da dün olduğu gibi, bugünde PKK teröristlerini desteklemek üzere, her türlü lojistik yataklık kuzey Irak peşmergeler tarafından vermektedir.

Kürtlerle olan bu gün bu diyalog Türkmenlerle aynı olarak, onlarında haklarını savunmalı, korumalıdır ve görüş birliği sağlanmakla Türkmen politiksini değerlendirmeli ve desteklemek gerekmektedir.

Saddam döneminde anayasada üçüncü millet olarak yer almayan Türkmenler, bugünde Amerika işgali 9 Nisan 2003 sonra Irak’ın önde gelen kültürlü, efendi, toprak bütünlüğünü savunan milleti olarak ve kurucu unsurlarından olmasına rağmen, ne yazık önemli siyasi, anayasal haklarına kavuşmamdan ana yurtları Kerkük, Erbil, Telafer şehirleri üstünde Kürt yönetimleri tarafından her türlü oyunlar oynanmakla, toraklarına, yerlerine el koyularak, her türlü haksızlıklara maruz kalarak kimsesiz hala düşmektedirler

Saddam Türkmenleri yok saymakla, her türlü bahane uydurarak, baskı işkenceler idamlara kalkarak, Türkiye’den bir parça olduklarından dolayı cezalandırılarak, Bağdat hükümeti ise Türkmen politikasın geliştirmeden hep baskıların sürdürmüşlerdir ve tüm sorunların karşısında yalnız bırakılarak, Saddam’ın eski hatalarını olumsuz olarak bugün Kürtler başarmaktadırlar. Bu gibi haksızlığa karşı Türkmenler şehitler vererek, mücadelelerini kanlarıyla sürdürmek için, başkaları gibi büyük düzeyde yeteneklere sahiptiler ve haklarını savunmak için, kendi milletleri olan Türkiye’nin yanlarına olmasını ve Kerkük konusunun gündemde tutulmasını ve milli mücadelelerine destek verilmesini arzuluyorlar.

Ekim ayında Irak’ta olacak yerel seçimlerin bugün Barzani ve öteki Irak’ı yönetenler tarafından yürütülerek, her taraf bir pazarlık içindedirler, artık bu yerel seçimde Türk şehri Kerkük’ün geleceğini belirlemek istiyorlar referandum yerine eşitlik bulmaya uğraşıyorlar Türkmenler Kerkük’te olduğu gibi Türkmenler Erbil, Musul, Diyala ve Irak’ın birçok yerlerinde ağırlıkta oldukları belli olmasına karşı, Kürt yönetimi Türkmenlerin toprak bölgelerini Kuzey Irak yönetiminin idari coğrafyasına katılmasına tüm yolları denemektedirler, bu gün Irak işgal altında olarak, istikrar ve güvenliği olmadan Türkmenler uğraşarak ve toprak bütünlüğünü savunarak, Kürt yönetimi ise kendi çıkarları için Kerkük petrolünü ele geçirmekle daha fazla pay almak için Kerkük Türkmen şehrini kuzey Irak’a katmaya uğraşmaktadır, tüm bu çıkardan önce, Irak devleti bir istikrara kavuşması daha önemli olarak, Türkmenlerde eşit haklarına sahip olmalarını umudunda yaşamaktadırlar.

Türkmenler Irak’ta üçüncü millet olarak Kerkük, Erbil, Musul, Altunköprü, Tuzhurmatu, Telafer ve Irak’ın Türkmen yoğunluğu olan yerlerde dillerinin resmi dil olarak kullanılması ve eğitim yapılması yanında, ekonomik, ticaret alanında Habur kapıdan yararlanmalı gerekmekle, Ovaköy kapısının açılmasıyla, Türkmenler güçlenmekle yeni projelerini, iş yerlerinin, ticari alanları kurulması ile yeni gelişmeler sağlanmalıdır, Kerkük’te ve tüm Türkmenelinde önemli görevler Türkmenlere dağıtılmalıdır.

Kerkük bir Türkmen bir şehri olarak, Kürtlerin istekleri gibi, yüzde otuz iki değil yüzde 80 oranının üstünde temsil edilmesi doğal bir haklarıdır, ayrıca Kerkük gibi bir Türkmen şehri olan Erbil, Musul ve öteki Türkmen yerlerinde Türkmenler yüzde otuz iki oranda haklar almalı gerekmektedir arak, Kerkük’te önemli görevler Türkmenlere verilmelidir Kerkük Valisinin ve daire müdürleri ayrıca birçok kuruluşların Türkmenler tarafında yürütülerek Türkiye, Amerika, BM ve Avrupa devletleri, insan hakları baskısıyla, Türkmenler önemli doğal haklarına kavuşmalıdırlar, çünkü Türkmenler Irak’ın kurucu unsurlarından olarak azınlık değildiler, Bölgesel Kürt yönetimi Neçirvan Barzani önceki tehditleri ile Mesut Barzani’ni tehditleri hiçbir zaman Türkmenleri milli dava mücadelelerinden, ana haklarsından bıktıramadı, uzaklaşmadı, bu uğurda çok sayıda şehitler vererek haklarını almaya kanlarını, canlarını vermeye ön sırada durmaktadırlar.

Kerkük bir Türkmen şehri olarak, 700 bin Kürt’ün Kerkük’e haksız yere yerleşmesiyle, Kerkük’te iktidarı Türkmen’den başka hiç kimde önce paylaşılmaz, Kerküklü olmayalar hiçbir zaman çözüm getiremezler, önce Kerkük’e yerleşen peşmergeler Kürtler derhal Kerkük’ten çıkmaları gerekir, referanduma 140 maddesine karşı olduğumuz gibi, Türkmenlere verilen yüzde 32 ye karşı olarak, artık geçtiğimiz yıl 6 ay ertelenen referandum tam olarak Aralık ayında gerçekleştirilemedi ve ortadan kalkmıştır, Kerkük’te Türkmenler tüm hakların almak için Türkmenlerin yapmış oldukları boykot Türkmen tüm haklarını elde etmek için şartlarını Celal Talabani, BM ve Amerika’ya bildirmişlerdir, Kerkük yüzde yüz bir Türkmen şehri olarak, Türkmenler tüm haklarını elde etmekleri ile yüzde 32 formülü eğil daha fazlasına sahip olmalarıdır, yüzde 32 yerine yüzde 80 sahip olmaları gerekmektedir.

Neçirvan önceden Türkmen şehri Kerkük’e başka yerlerden yerleşen 700 Kürt peşmergelerin yerlerine dönmelerine karşı durmadan, bir an önce el koydukları Türkmen arazileri, yerlerine geri dönmeleriyle Kerkük’ün özel bir statüye kavuşmasıyla Kerkük’ten Saddam ve sonrası patlama, kaçırma, öldürme olayında yerlerin evlerini bırakan Türkmenler tekrar Türkiye, BM Amerika Avrupa gözetimi altında yerlerine dönmeleriyle doğru yasal seçimler gerçekleşecektir.

Neçirvan düşmancasına besleyen tehdit dolu sözleriyle, Araplarla anlaşmadan konuşarak iktidarı Araplarla paylaşacağını söyleyerek, Kerkük’ün öz be öz sahibi olan Türkmenleri arka plana da tutmaktadırlar.
Neçirvanin hiçi bir hakkı Kerkük’te olmadığını iyi bilmelidir ve iyice düşünmelidir.
Çünkü Kerkük’ün durumu, konusu yalnız Türkmenleri ilgilendirir, Erbil, Musul, Diyala ve onlara bağlı Türkmen köy ilçeleri gibidir. Türkmenler şimdiye kadar Süleymaniye, Dahuk, Zaho, Basra, Selahattin, Bağdat ilgili ile konuşamadılar, ilgilenmediler oralarda hiçbir hak istemediler, onlarda Türkmen Türkmenlere haklar verilsin diye bizler söylemedik, konuşmadık, buna dair Neçirvan Barzani’nin konuşması Türkmenleri ilgilendirmektedir, Kerkük bir Türkmen şehri olarak Neçirvan Kerküklü olmadığı için Kerkük içişlerine katılmasal yasal olmayacaktır, çünkü Kerküklü olmayanlar Kerkük’ün biyografisi, statüsü ilgili hiçte konuşamaz Kerkük Türkmen şehri ne Kürt nede Arap şehri değildir ve hep Türkmen şehri kalacaktır.
Bizler Türkmenler olarak ve Kerkük Türkmen şehrine özel statü isteyerek, Bağdat başkentine bağlanmasıyla, kuzey Irak’a katılmasına karşı durarak, Kerkük’te yaşayanlar Kerkük’ün konusuyla, durumuyla ilgilenmelidirler,
Kerkük’ün demografik yapısı değiştirmeye kalkan Kürt peşmergeler yönetimi referandum yapılacak diye 140 maddesini ortaya atarak önkoşullarda bu maddeye bağlı olan Nüfus sayımı ve normalleştirme ile ilgili bugüne kadar bir gelişme olmadan, Türkmenlerin mal, mülk arazileri ellerine verilmeden ve günümüze kadar Saddam döneminde, Saddam’dan sonra Kerkük’e yerleşen yüz binlerce Araplar ve Kürtler kendi yerlerine dönemeden, nasıl bir seçim, bir sayım olacaktır.
Yüzde 32 paylaşım Türkmen, Arap, Kürt, Hıristiyanlar arasında olacaktır, o zaman bu yönetim paylaşmalar Irak’ın her yerinde bulunan Türkmenleri kapsamalıdır, özellikle Erbil, Musul, Diyala, Selahattin velayetlerinde, her bakımdan Türkmenler Saddam döneminde oldukları gibi, bugünde ana haklarına kavuşmadılar ve birçok durumları çözülemedi.
Bugün baktığımızda tüm Türkmen bölgeleri yanında, Hıristiyanların yaşadıkları bölgelerde Kürt yönetimi eli altında kendi yerleri, toprakları olduklarını bildirmektedirler, bugün kuzeybatıdan başlayarak Dahuk, Erbil ve Süleymaniye, Sincar Telafer, Mahmur, Şirvan Kalesi, Karatepe, Hanekin ve Mandallı, İmadiya, Bakşika, Karakuş, Şihan, Şehraban, Tekif, Hemdaniya, Akra, Beledroz, Şebekler gibi, ayrıca çok sayıda Hıristiyan, Yezidi, topraklarına, yerlerine toplu olarak Kürtleştirmekle, Süleymaniye, Erbil, Dahuk, Musul’a bağlı birçok ilçe köyler baskıyla Kürt peşmergeler yönetimleri bağlanmıştır, Kürtler bir yandan 450 kilometrelik bir alanı İşgalci Amerika yardımı ile Kuzey Irak yönetimine
Katmışlardır.

Böylece Neçirvan Barzani, Berham Salih’in son açıklamasına tehditleri güç ve siyasi otoritenin sonucuyla Türkmen şehrini ele geçirmeleri bir hayal olarak, hiçbir zaman gerçek olamayacaktır,
Kerkük Irak Türklerin anayurdu, gönülleri, başkentleri, milli topraklarıdır, bu topraklar Türk toprakları olarak, onu tüm düşmanlara, hainlere karşı savunacaklardır, son damla kanları kalıncaya kadar, Kerkük ne Saddam tarafından zorla yerleştirilen Araplar, nede Amerika, İsrail tarafından bugüne kadar kullanılan Kürt peşmergelerin olacaktır, bizler Irak Türkleri olarak ölürüz, bir karış, bir parça Kerkük, Türkmeneli topraklarına sahip çıkarak, kanımızla, canımızla bu uğrunda yüzlerce şehitler vererek, milli dava mücadelemizi sürdürerek, hiçbir düşmanlara baş eğmeden milletimizi, topraklarımız, yerlerimizi koruyacağız, koruyacağız.

Statement from Arab and Turkmen Groups in Kirkuk Province Council

Statement

Political blocs and Iraqi people components participated in the political process and National Unity Government on the basis of a consensual democracy.

Kirkuk’s Turkmen and Arabs have supported the political process according to this basis, noticeably for the last five years Kirkuk governorate tasted far from the flavor of such democracy version, the governorate turned into a protected preserve ethnic and partisan one.

Arabs and Turkmen have sought as possible to change this situation for the better but our actions in this area were always victim of procrastination and prevarication.

To address and overcome this crisis in a way that satisfy all components of the people in Kirkuk, to participate in a fair administration of the province, to participate in the legislative and executive branches the principle of joint management by 32% for all nationalities, Arab, Kurds and Turkmen and 4% for Assyrian Should be applied.

We as Political and tribal Arab and Turkmen forces representatives in the governorate of Kirkuk declare our full support to the proposal made by the crisis cell of Kirkuk and backed by more than (110) Iraqi PM’s, the proposal suggests the division of the Kirkuk governorate to the four constituencies where nationalities to achieve ratios above.

Arab and Turkmen blocs call all political forces in the House of Representatives to approve the proposal amendment in election law to achieve balance and attempts to cope with the demographic change in the governorate of Kirkuk through illegal housing of tens of thousands of people from other governorate and adding them illegally to the ration records.

The 32% co-management and power-sharing proposal has been backed by the President Mr. Jalal Talabani, who emphasized during his recent visit to Kirkuk governorate to the need to adopt this ratio.Arab and Turkmen blocs in the governorate of Kirkuk invite the House of Representatives to declare all the facts to Iraqi people.

Arab and Turkmen groups in Kirkuk province Council


Thursday, June 05, 2008

Report accuses Bush of misrepresenting Iraq intel

By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON - A new Senate report gives a fresh shot of adrenaline to the election-year debate over the Iraq war. President Bush and his top officials deliberately misrepresented secret intelligence to make the case to invade Iraq, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The panel put a new spin on old charges, comparing claims made in five speeches by top Bush administration officials with intelligence reports. The committee says officials wrongly linked Saddam Hussein to the Sept. 11 attacks and al-Qaida; claimed Iraq would give terrorist groups chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, and said Iraq was developing drone aircraft to spread chemical or biological agents over the United States.

None was borne out by intelligence.

The presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Sen. Barack Obama, has staked his campaign on his consistent opposition to the Iraq war. The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, has trumpeted his unflagging support for the war, if not how it was waged.
The report released Thursday follows, by years, an earlier committee effort that assessed the quality of pre-war intelligence on Iraq and found it severely lacking. This report is known as "phase II" and spawned a nasty partisan fight in the committee. It plows well-tread political ground by contrasting what Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said between October 2002 and March 2003, when the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq began, with intelligence reports that since have been released.

"These reports are about holding the government accountable and making sure these mistakes never happen again," said the committee's chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
According to Rockefeller, the problem was the Bush administration concealed information that would have undermined the case for war. "We might have avoided this catastrophe," he said.
Bush's press secretary, Dana Perino, said the problem was flawed intelligence heading into the war. "We had the intelligence that we had, fully vetted, but it was wrong. And we certainly regret that," she said.

The Senate report, however, found that intelligence supported most of the administration's statements about Iraq before the war. But officials often did not mention the level of dissension or uncertainty in the intelligence agencies about the information they were presenting.
Two Republicans, Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia Snowe of Maine, endorsed the report.

The committee's five other Republicans, however, assailed it as a partisan exercise. They accused Democrats of covering for their own members, including Rockefeller and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who made similar statements about Iraq based on the same intelligence the Bush administration used.
"It is ironic that the Democrats would knowingly distort and misrepresent the committee's findings and the intelligence in an effort to prove that the administration distorted and mischaracterized the intelligence," said Sen. Christopher Bond of Missouri, the committee's top Republican.

Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.
___ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iran_intelligence

jeudi 5 juin 2008

TURKMEN COORDINATION HELD A MEETING IN KERKUK

TURKMENELI TV - The issue of provincial council elections in Iraq generally and in Kirkuk especially is still leading the agenda of Turkmen officials and politicians.
The Iraqi Turkmen coordination commission which was established to concern on the coming elections had had its third around meeting to discuss the elections mechanisms and Turkmen participation in this election.

The Turkmen coordination commission members had concerns of the proposals presented to chairmanship of Iraqi house representing from one hundred twenty seven members
Half of Iraqi parliament members support giving Kirkuk governorate special statue in the elections.

The suggestion says that multi ethnic mixed city of Kirkuk to be divided in to 4 polling centers organized according to ethnical strong holds as 32% for Turkmens / Arabs / Kurds and 4% for Childo Assyrians . In third of last may More than 20 diplomatic officials represent the most powerful and legitimate Turkmen movements had came together in Baghdad and decided to contest the next local elections in much different shape.

The meeting led to announce the formation of Turkmen coordination commission which is going to take the responsibility of conducting the elections mechanism and engaging the coordination with the high elections commissions and other Iraqi blocs that are going to take part in the elections.

This step came as procedures to prevent forgery and violations are expected to redone in the electoral process.

The Turkmen coordination commission had involved the Turkmen parties that are so active in Turkmen political arena. The commission also was involved by Turkmen lawmakers in the house representing.

The Unification of Turkmen message and project for all Turkmen political groups was announced in Baghdad to discuss the Kirkuk Issue and formulate a convention for co-operation
About 50 Turkmen politicians from different ideologues are invited: from the Iraqi cabinet, the Iraqi parliament, the Turkmen cities councils, the political parties, the civil society organizations, the writers and the intellectuals.

Fewer than four headings the Turkmen organizations are going to discuss the article 140 and the suggested Turkmen solutions for Kirkuk problem to prepare a common convention and work plan accordingly. The Kirkuk convention is going to institute the bases for the activities of all the Iraqi Turkmen organizations to find a peaceful solution for Kirkuk problem.

http://turkmenelitv.com/v5/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1774&Itemid=43

بيـــان

بيـــان

أن مشاركة الكتل السياسية ومكونات الشعب العراقي في العملية السياسية وحكومة الوحدة الوطنية جاءت على أساس الديمقراطية التوافقية
وأن التركمان والعرب في كركوك ساندوا العملية السياسية وفق هذا الأساس ولكن الملاحظ ومنذ خمسة سنوات بأن محافظة كركوك لم تتذوق طعم مثل هذه الصيغة من الديمقراطية بل ان المحافظة تحولت إلى محمية حزبية لقومية واحدة
ولقد سعى العرب والتركمان قدر الامكان تغيير هذه الحالة نحو الأحسن غير ان دعواتهم في هذا المجال أصبحت ضحية التسويف والمماطلة

لتجاوز هذه الأزمة ومعالجتها بشكل يرضي جميع مكونات الشعب في كركوك ولتحقيق المشاركة في إدارة المحافظة بصورة عادلة بحيث تشمل المشاركة في السلطتين التشريعية والتنفيذية يكون باعتماد مبدأ الإدارة المشتركة بنسبة 32% لكل من القوميات العربية والكردبة والتركمانية و4% للكلدوأشوريين

إن القوى السياسية والعشائرية العربية والتركمانية وممثليها في مجلس محافظة كركوك تدعم المقترح الذي تقدمت به خلية أزمة كركوك والمؤيدة من قبل اكثر من (110) نائب من أعضاء البرلمان العراقي والذي ينص على تقسيم محافظة كركوك إلى أربعة دوائر انتخابية حسب القوميات لتحقيق النسب اعلاه

تدعو الكتلتين العربية والتركمانية كافة القوى السياسية في مجلس النواب بالموافقة على هذا المقترح وتثبيته في قانون الانتخابات المزمع إصداره لتحقيق التوازن والوقوف أمام محاولات التغيير الديمغرافي في محافظة كركوك عبر اسكان عشرات الالاف من غير ابنائها فيها واضافتهم إلى سجلات البطافة التموينية وبصورة مخالفة للقانون

علما ان الادارة المشتركة وتقاسم السلطة بنسبة 32% يحظى بدعم وتأييد السيد رئيس الجمهورية جلال الطالباني الذي أكد في زيارته الأخيرة لمحافظة كركوك إلى ضرورة الأخذ بهذه النسبة

وتطالب الكتلتين العربية والتركمانية في مجلس محافظة كركوك دعوتها إلى مجلس النواب لبيان الحقائق أمام ممثلي الشعب العراقي

المجموعتين العربية والتركمانية في مجلس محافظة كركوك

2008-06-05

Obama pledges support for Israel

Aljazeera.net

June 4, 2008

Barack Obama, the US Democratic presumptive presidential nominee, has pledged to safeguard Israel's security if elected president in November.

Obama also described the US bond with Israel as "unbreakable today, unbreakable tomorrow, unbreakable for ever" and said he spoke as a "true friend" of Israel.

Hours after securing his party's nomination, Obama told the influential annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Council (Aipac) on Wednesday that rumours and suggestions he is unfriendly to Israel and to Jewish interests are unfounded.

Obama, the first African-American projected to win the presidential nomination for a major US political party, said that Jerusalem must remain the "undivided" capital of Israel.

"Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided," the Illinois senator said.

Obama drew a standing ovation as he addressed the gathering of one of US politics' most influential lobbying groups, and said that as president "I will never compromise when it comes to Israel's security".

He also said any deal between Israelis and Palestinians should preserve Israel's identity as a Jewish state and that Hamas should be isolated.

"We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognise Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements," he said.

"There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organisations."

Palestinian anger

Hamas reacted angrily to Obama's speech, with Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the movement, telling AFP on Wednesday that it was "evidence of the hostility of the American administration to Arabs and Muslims".

Palestinian leaders in the West Bank also condemned Obama's speech with Saeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian negotiator, telling Al Jazeera that Obama "was giving ammunition to extremists across the region".

"He runs on the slate of change, but he closes all doors for peace by saying Jerusalem should be the united capital of Israel."

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, also rejected Obama's speech."Jerusalem is one of the files under negotiation. The entire world knows perfectly well that we will never accept a state without [east] Jerusalem [as its capital]. That should be clear," he said in Ramallah.

Obama, who pledged to approve $30 billion in aid to Israel over the next 10 years, said he was not opposed to holding talks with "appropriate" Iranian leaders using "tough and principled diplomacy".

Action against Iran

Obama also vowed to do "everything in my power" to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

In his first major foreign policy speech since announcing he had clinched the nomination, the Illinois senator did not explicitly rule out military action against Tehran."The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat," he said.

The Illinois senator's comments come a day after US media projected that Obama had enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination and face John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate, in the November election.

His Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, who also spoke at the conference later on Wednesday, has so far refused to concede the race.

Speaking shortly after Obama, Clinton said the US's "next president must be a Democrat and that Obama "will be a good friend to Israel".

Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds said the subtle language indicated Clinton was no longer running for the presidency but she still would not say she had suspended her campaign.

Republicans have criticised Obama for his offers to talk to Iran, but Obama countered in his speech that it was the failed policies of George Bush, the US president, in Iraq that had made Israel less safe.

Al Jazeera's senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said that Obama drew a Middle East map very similar to his Republican predecessors.

However, he distanced himself from the current administration's approach by criticising their positions as not only bad to US interests but also to those of Israel.

He also offered more than just sanctions but the option of "harsh" diplomacy, in a more multilateral approach than previous administrations.

Warmly received

Some Aipac attendees, however, liked what they heard."I was essentially very impressed - I am a Hillary supporter but I was looking for Obama to fill in the void that many Jewish voters saw in his platform and I was reassured that, despite all the rumours, he is supporting Israel," Marlene Goldenberg, 22, a student from Syracuse in New York state, told Al Jazeera.

Reverend Julius Hope, a Christian pastor from Detroit, said Obama had done more than enough to dispel any doubts that supporters of Israel may have had about him."He made sure that everyone understands - come hell or high-water - that he'll be there for Israel."


english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CF31CAE7-86D1-4B0F-89C1-36BF07AC0311.htm

mercredi 4 juin 2008

War criminals must fear punishment. By George Monbiot

War criminals must fear punishment. That's why I went for John Bolton
As long as the greatest crime of the 21st century remains unprosecuted, we all have a duty to keep the truth alive

George Monbiot
The Guardian,
Tuesday June 3 2008

Article history

I realise now that I didn't have a hope. I had almost reached the stage when two of the biggest gorillas I have ever seen swept me up and carried me out of the tent. It was humiliating, but it could have been worse. The guard on the other side of the stage, half hidden in the curtains, had spent the lecture touching something under his left armpit. Perhaps he had bubos.

I had no intention of arresting John Bolton, the former under-secretary of state at the US state department, when I arrived at the Hay festival. But during a panel discussion about the Iraq war, I remarked that the greatest crime of the 21st century had become so normalised that one of its authors was due to visit the festival to promote his book. I proposed that someone should attempt a citizens' arrest, in the hope of instilling a fear of punishment among those who plan illegal wars. After the session I realised that I couldn't call on other people to do something I wasn't prepared to do myself.

I knew that I was more likely to be arrested and charged than Mr Bolton. I had no intention of harming him, or of acting in any way that could be interpreted as aggressive, but had I sought only to steer him gently towards the police I might have faced a range of exotic charges, from false imprisonment to aggravated assault. I was prepared to take this risk. It is not enough to demand that other people act, knowing that they will not. If the police, the courts and the state fail to prosecute what the Nuremberg tribunal described as "the supreme international crime", I believe we have a duty to seek to advance the process.

The Nuremberg principles, which arose from the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, define as an international crime the "planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances". Bolton appears to have "participated in a common plan" to prepare for the war (also defined by the principles as a crime) by inserting the false claim that Iraq was seeking to procure uranium from Niger into a state department factsheet. He also organised the sacking of José Bustani, the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, accusing him of bad management. Bustani had tried to broker a peaceful resolution of the dispute over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Some of the most pungent criticisms of my feeble attempt to bring this man to justice have come from other writers for the Guardian. Michael White took a position of extraordinary generosity towards the instigators of the war. There are "arguments on both sides", he contended on the Guardian politics blog. Bustani might have received compensation after his sacking by Bolton, "but Bolton says that does not mean much". In fact, Bustani was not only compensated at his tribunal, he was completely exonerated of Bolton's accusations and his employers were obliged to pay special damages.

White suggested that Iraq might indeed have been seeking uranium from Niger, on the grounds of a conversation he once had with an MI6 officer. Alongside the British government's 45-minute claim, this must be the best-documented of all the false justifications for the war with Iraq. In 2002, the United States government sent three senior officials to Niger to investigate the claim. All reported that it was without foundation. The International Atomic Energy Agency discovered that it was based on crude forgeries. This assessment was confirmed by the state department's official Greg Thielmann, who reported directly to John Bolton. No evidence beyond the forged documents has been provided by either the US or the UK governments to support their allegation.

White also gives credence to Bolton's claims that the war in 2003 was justified by two UN resolutions - 678 and 687 - which were approved in 1990 and 1991, and that it was permitted by article 51 of the UN charter. The attempt to revive resolutions 678 and 687 was the last, desperate throw of the dice by the Blair government when all else had failed. When it became clear that it could not obtain a new UN resolution authorising force against Iraq, the government dusted down the old ones, which had been drafted in response to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.

This revival formed the basis of Lord Goldsmith's published advice on March 17 2003. It was described as "risible" and "scrap[ing] the bottom of the legal barrel" by Lord Alexander, a senior law lord. After the first Gulf war, Colin Powell, General Sir Peter de la Billiere and John Major all stated that the UN's resolutions permitted them only to expel the Iraqi army from Kuwait, and not to overthrow the Iraqi government. Lord Goldsmith himself, in the summer of 2002, advised Tony Blair that resolutions 678 and 687 could not be used to justify a new war with Iraq.
Article 51 of the UN charter is comprehensible to anyone but the lawyers employed by the Bush administration. States have a right to self-defence "if an armed attack occurs against" them, and then only until the UN security council can intervene. On what occasion did Iraq attack the United States? Is there any claim made by the Blair and Bush governments that Michael White is not prepared to believe?

Conor Foley, writing on Comment is free, suggested that my action "completely trivialises the serious case" against the Iraq war and claimed that I was seeking to "imprison ... people because of their political opinions", as if Bolton were simply a commentator on the war, and not an agent. Does he really believe that the former under-secretary did not "participate in a common plan" to initiate the war with Iraq? What other conceivable purpose might the state department's misleading factsheet have served? And what more serious action can someone who is neither a law lord nor a legislator take? Bolton himself maintains that my attempt to bring him to justice reflects a "move towards lawlessness and fascism". This is an interesting commentary on an attempt to uphold a law which arose from the prosecution of fascists.

But there is one charge I do accept: that my chances of success were very slight. Apart from the 300-pound gorillas, the main obstacle I faced was that although the crime of aggression, as defined by the Nuremberg principles, has been incorporated into the legislation of many countries, it has not been assimilated into the laws of England and Wales. This does not lessen the crime but it means that it cannot yet be tried here. This merely highlights another injustice: while the British state is prepared to punish petty misdemeanours with vindictive ferocity, it will not legislate against the greatest crime of all, lest it expose itself to prosecution.

But demonstration has two meanings. Non-violent direct action is both a protest and an exposition. It seeks to demonstrate truths which have been overlooked or forgotten. I sought to remind people that the greatest crime of the 21st century remains unprosecuted, and remains a great crime. If you have read this far, I have succeeded.

monbiot.com

mardi 3 juin 2008

Iraqis united to reject the draft of a security agreement proposed by the U.S.

Juan Cole's 'Informed Comment':
Tuesday, June 03, 2008

US-Iraq Security Talks Hit Snag; Mosul Police HQ Bombed, 55 Killed or Wounded

The US is still hopeful that it can conclude a security agreement with the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
on the framework for a US troop presence next year after the UN Security Council authorization runs out.

The negotiations have produced a sharp reaction from a broad cross-section of the Iraqi public, Sunni and Shiite, and different factions of the Shiites. The US embassy is trying to blame Iran for all this, but the allegation won't wash. Iran does oppose the pact, but so do lots of Iraqis, including close US allies in Iraq and the nativist urban slum youth of the Sadr Movement, who don't even like Iran.

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that both Sunni and Shiite Iraqis have united to reject the draft of a security agreement proposed by the United States.

A high-level Iraqi source told the pan-Arab London daily that one point of dispute is that the US wants its troops to have complete freedom of movement in the country, whereas the Iraqis want it to be limited.

The Americans are said to be seeking to retain the right to dominate Iraqi air space up to 29,000 feet, and to gain open access to the land, air and water of Iraq. The US wants to retain the right to arrest and detain any Iraqi whom the US believes represents a security threat.

Washington desires the right to launch military operations to chase terrorists without seeking Iraqi government permission.

The US wants immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts for American troops, contractors and corporations in Iraq. The US also wants to retain the right to define terrorism against Iraq. It does not want to give any undertaking that it will defend Iraq from any outside attack unless it is convinced about the nature of that attack. Likewise it is not offering to safeguard the democratic regime in Iraq.

Iraqis for their part are demanding a recognition of Iraqi sovereignty.

http://www.juancole.com/