Iraqi government to announce "Peace Plan" on Sunday

[bigtree]

In short form, the offer is this:

THE OFFER

* A schedule for coalition forces to withdraw

* General amnesty for prisoners “who have not shed innocent Iraqis’ blood”

* A halt to “anti-terrorist operations” by coalition forces in insurgent areas

* A review of the process of de-Baathification and of financial compensation to sacked civil servants from the Saddam regime

report: http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?entry=4121


Peace deal offers Iraq insurgents an amnesty

The 28-point package for national reconciliation will offer Iraqi resistance groups inclusion in the political process and an amnesty for their prisoners if they renounce violence and lay down their arms, The Times can reveal.

The Government will promise a finite, UN-approved timeline for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq; a halt to US operations against insurgent strongholds; an end to human rights violations, including those by coalition troops; and compensation for victims of attacks by terrorists or Iraqi and coalition forces.

It will pledge to take action against Shia militias and death squads. It will also offer to review the process of “de-Baathification” and financial compensation for the thousands of Sunnis who were purged from senior jobs in the Armed Forces and Civil Service after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The deal, which has been seen by The Times, aims to divide Iraqi insurgents from foreign fighters linked to al-Qaeda. It builds on months of secret talks involving Jalal al-Talabani, the Iraqi President, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Ambassador, and seven Sunni insurgent groups.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2239088,00.html

[Jacobin]

1. The insurgents and Iraqis in general will never accept

the ruling of a puppet government installed by the U.S.

That much is clear from events on the ground.

Desperation hangs in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife.

[bigtree]

3. They escalate the occupation in Baghdad, Ramadi and elsewhere

and talk of reconciliation.

The Maliki regime will never stand without our military prop.

[PATRICK]

2. The current Baghdad barricades

it will be interesting to see if, as a part of a sign of this deal, the Shiites will refuse to help the Americans take it down. Whether it was engineered by anyone this way or not it does serve to put the US on notice in many ways and might co-opt any deal killing interference by the occupation forces.

It also serves as a primary battle to end the neocon agenda against Iran.

If Bushco is on the ball it will be forcing the Iraqis themselves to attack the barricades. If I am right, they will fail and something phony or very very media quiet will be used as cover back home. That will not help them in Iraq as this in no way gives them time to subvert the peace process- after having destroyed legitimate Intel that would have ironically helped head this off. The Bush visit as a tactic was a bluff to the point of joke and an arrogant substitute for competent puppetry.

Neither this plan NOR the current riots in the city are being reported on by CNN! Quite a different treatment on the BBC. It looks like a spontaneous 60's inner city riot. The BBC fails to note the absence of Iraqi forces while making excuses for the powerless American forces 200 meters away. Instead we get the air assassination of some top Al Qaeda figure or other and some massive terror plot foiled in Chicago. The fact that the Iraqi government can drive out AlQaeda in its entirety- if we leave- will be a salient point never covered in our curtained media.

[MaineDem]

4. That amnesty piece...

Isn't that what the Senate debated the other day? The US Senate does not want amnesty for those who shed American blood, not just Iraqi. Will that mean a stumbling block to "peace" before it even starts?

[rodeodance]

5. umm.. why isn't this breaking news in the USA?

[rodeodance]

6. rec

[sabra]

7. Cause it includes language for timetables and amnesty to those

who kill US soldiers...

[Erika]

12. Not sitting well

Insurgents would be prosecuted for killing Iraqis, but not Americans. 2,515 troops dead American troops.

And no one will be prosecuted for their deaths?

[legin]

8. Mmmm..maybe I spent too long in the basement

what is more advantageous ?

1. Just going around, putting the boot into people,

OR

2. As above, but having a nice uplifting front-end 'Peace Plan' to rattle around people's minds whilst you are 'taking care of business'.

Milosovich was an extremely incompetent ethnic clenser I've come to the conclusion.

[legin]

9. I think maybe we need a new name

to distinguish between those 'Peace Plans' whose aim is actually to get to a state of peace, and those that are just mere handmaidens to agressive and vicious actions.

[legin]

10. Let's say you are just about to go into battle

You're the commander of your forces.

You look out over the plain at the two armies just about to get to it.

You look at the enemies army. They look really mean. They hate you. And they look like a team, they're together, they are a cohesive unit.

Once the battle starts your side is going to take some real casualties.

Anything you can do to break up this 'togetherness' of your enemy is in your interests, and will save you troops.

[Erika]

11. The plan will allow Iraqi insurgents who killed our troops

total amnesty. No charges. None at all.

[Roland99]

13. I suppose that's to be on the honor policy....

Q: Did you kill any Iraqis?

A: Uh, no. No way, eh?

[liberalpragmatist]

14. Iraq Government Plans Call for U.S. Withdrawal Timetable

Maliki's Master Plan

WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Rod Nordland
Newsweek
Updated: 1 hour, 16 minutes ago

June 24, 2006 - A timetable for withdrawal of occupation troops from Iraq. Amnesty for all insurgents who attacked U.S. and Iraqi military targets. Release of all security detainees from U.S. and Iraqi prisons. Compensation for victims of coalition military operations.

Those sound like the demands of some of the insurgents themselves, and in fact they are. But they're also key clauses of a national reconciliation plan drafted by new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who will unveil it Sunday. The provisions will spark sharp debate in Iraq—but the fiercest opposition is likely to come from Washington, which has opposed any talk of timetables, or of amnesty for insurgents who have attacked American soldiers.

<snip>

NEWSWEEK has obtained a draft copy of the national reconciliation plan, and verified its contents with two Iraqi officials involved in the reconciliation process who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the plan's contents. Prime Minister Maliki will present the document to the National Assembly when it convenes on Sunday, and it's expected to be debated over the coming week. Maliki has made reconciliation and control of party militias the main emphasis of his new government. This plan follows a series of secret negotiations over the past two months between seven insurgent groups, President Jalal Talabani and officials of the U.S. embassy. The insurgent groups involved are Sunnis but do not include foreign jihadis like al Qaeda and other terrorist factions who deliberately target civilians; those groups have always denounced any negotiations.

The distinction between insurgents and terrorists is one of the key principles in the document, and is in response to Sunni politicians' demands that the "national resistance" should not be punished for what they see as legitimate self-defense in attacks against a foreign occupying power. Principle No. 19 calls for "Recognizing the legitimacy of the national resistance and differentiating or separating it from terrorism" while "encouraging the national resistance to enroll in the political process and recognizing the necessity of the participation of the national resistance in the national reconciliation dialogue."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13521628/site/newsweek/

***

So I guess that as Kerry and Feingold asked during the debate, are the Iraqis cutting and running from their own country?

[OKNancy]

15. Bush said we would leave if asked

President Bush said in an interview on Thursday that he would withdraw American forces from Iraq if the new government that is elected on Sunday asked him to do so, but that he expected Iraq’s first democratically elected leaders would want the troops to remain as helpers, not as occupiers.

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/22/bush-withdraw/

from Nov. 22, 2005

[applegrove]

16. So there is a timeline. Even if the pukes had a vote to embarrass

the dems this week.

[Barrett808]

19. Yes, expect the "amazing progress" on the Iraqi army to escalate...

...by a few hundred thousand more troops in the next couple of weeks.

[tabasco]

17. Time for new elections !!

Boys gettin' outta line.

[Barrett808]

18. It will get interesting with the Parliament refuses to recognize Israel

Then we'll really see what kind of monster Bush has created.

[Thickasabrick]

20. Huh? n/t

[AlamoDemoc]

21. Why is that? Is Israel recognition prerequisite to their freedom?

[Warren Stupidity]

23. Do our oil rich buddies in the gulf recognize Israel? nt

[calimary]

27. Well, I'd guess that if they expect to arise as an Islamic Republic,

that might be what they'd do. I don't know enough about the makeup of the parliament or the others "in charge" over there, but the radical Islamic factions seem to view Israel as the devil incarnate.

I may be mistaken, but wasn't one of the foundational precepts of the PNACers (beyond just securing Middle Eastern oil for us) was the protection of Israel from further threat?

If Iraq steers toward Islamic Republic-land, bush will not only have destabilized the Middle East against our interests, he'll have screwed the pooch for Israel, also. It would be irony on a global scale. The AIPAC people would certainly be in an uproar. The law of unintended consequences - in action.

[Vidar]

22. Looks like Bush will have to overthrow yet another Iraqi government.

[ecoalex]

24. The neo cons have no plans to withdraw, it is and was about OIL

Don't forget how one room in the W.H.was described to have a map of Iraq with oil co flags on the various oil fields in early 2001. This goal will not die easily. Regime change, and a DNC Dem is the only way Iraq will be free.

[mike_c]

25. bwahahahaha....

The puppet gov't has illusions of autonymy. Look for a few key assassinations to be permitted.

Maliki is trying to pursue a rational path here, which is a bit surprising but also the shrewdest thing to do, IMO. Unless he wants to be forever like Karzei, unable to leave the immediate protection of Americans in his own country, he MUST seek both reconciliation and an end to the occupation. He's also going to have to demonstrate considerable independence from the U.S., because the default assumption is that he oversees a government of marionettes. Dick and Don are not going to like that.

Personally, I don't think he can succeed, much as I admire this attempt.

[daleo]

26. Unless the plan includes "Give Bush all our oil"

He will never agree to it.