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Iraqi Civilian Deaths ... caused by Bush's unprovoked war

 

Bush and Blair agree Iraq exit plan to end occupation
(The Observer, November 16, 2003)
President George Bush and Tony Blair have agreed an exit strategy for pulling out of Iraq, officially ending the occupation next year while committing troops to the region until 2006. . . . the two leaders will make the blueprint the centrepiece of their discussions during Bush's state visit to Britain this week. . . . In a series of coordinated briefings from Washington, London and Baghdad, officials said the Iraqi Governing Council set up by the Americans would see its sovereignty transferred to a transitional government picked by delegates to a national conference. That body would then plan for national elections and the drawing up of a constitution for Iraq. . . . British officials told The Observer that, although the occupation of Iraq would be over next year, it was likely that troops would need to stay, possibly until 2006. 'The whole process will take two to three years, as in Afghanistan,' said a senior Number 10 official closely involved in the Iraq negotiations. . . . 'The first phase is the handing over of power to the transitional government, at which point the occupation ends. This is followed by an electoral process which includes a census and constitutional convention and finally elections to a fully sovereign Iraqi government.' . . . It is the first time Downing Street has spoken of the end of the occupation and marks a significant shift in the 'acceleration' process of handing Iraq back to the Iraqis. Officials in Washington hope that by ending the increasingly unpopular notion of 'occupation' and giving the new government the power to run its own security affairs in a partnership with coalition forces, Iraqis can be persuaded that foreign troops are on their soil to help them. . . . Announcing the new proposal yesterday, the current president of the Governing Council, Jalal Talabani, said: 'The new government will be in charge of negotiating with the occupying forces over how to regulate their presence in the country.' . . . The decision reveals a reversal of Washington's policy since America had originally hoped to have a constitution in place before moving towards national elections. . . . It also reflects the difficulties that the members of the governing council have had in drawing up a constitution, especially over the issue of the role of the clergy in a new democratic Iraq. Talabani stressed at the press conference that the end of the US occupation would not necessarily mean the exit of all American troops. . . . [NOTE: Yesterday's helicopter crashes and the death of a US soldier who was killed by a Baghdad roadside bomb brought US military deaths since the war began in March to 418.]

posted by LoZo 7:38 PM