2005-08-16
Iraqi Constitution
According to what the ITM brothers reported, there are suggestion forms for Iraqis to influence the new constitution. If I'm not too late, here is what I suggest everyone fills in on the forms:
Everyone has the right to live under a RATIONAL, HUMANIST and NON-SUBJUGATING government, with full respect of human rights, including but not limited to freedom of speech. At the moment, there are a whole lot of proposed laws that say "you have this freedom so long as it doesn't contradict Islam/traditions". This is a big problem. That really means you don't have the right at all. The human right of freedom of speech enables people to make statements that aren't popular or normal. You should not be STOPPING ideas, you should instead be COUNTERING them.
Now, if the government is to be rational, humanist and non-subjugating, then that means that the parties vying for power must also be the same. In the west there is a thing called "separation of church and state". That is a misnomer. It should really be called RATIONAL GOVERNMENT. This means that dogmas such as Communism or Islam should not be allowed into government. This is how western societies advanced - by keeping the Christian dogma (the bible) out of government.
For the parties to be humanist, all parties that are of the form "Kurdish xyz Party" need to be banned. If you allow people to vote according to their race or sect, you end up with the hopeless situation that exists in Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, people vote for their religious sect, and it means that the losers appear to be second-class citizens. People should not be divided by their race or sect. They should be divided over how best to run the country - economic policy, that sort of thing.
The next thing you need to do is specifically renounce the Treaty of Westphalia and anything in the UN Charter that says that human rights are an internal sovereign issue. You should make a point of saying that you want the NATO countries to provide guarantees that in the event of a military coup, they will act to restore Iraq's democracy. Such a guarantee will ensure that no-one in Iraq's military will attempt such a coup in the first place. In addition, you should request a NATO presence in the Kurdish areas for as long as the Kurds feel necessary.
I hope it's not too late for you to get one of these forms filled in and affect the final outcome. If you don't get the above incorporated, then I suggest you veto the new constitution.
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Everyone has the right to live under a RATIONAL, HUMANIST and NON-SUBJUGATING government, with full respect of human rights, including but not limited to freedom of speech. At the moment, there are a whole lot of proposed laws that say "you have this freedom so long as it doesn't contradict Islam/traditions". This is a big problem. That really means you don't have the right at all. The human right of freedom of speech enables people to make statements that aren't popular or normal. You should not be STOPPING ideas, you should instead be COUNTERING them.
Now, if the government is to be rational, humanist and non-subjugating, then that means that the parties vying for power must also be the same. In the west there is a thing called "separation of church and state". That is a misnomer. It should really be called RATIONAL GOVERNMENT. This means that dogmas such as Communism or Islam should not be allowed into government. This is how western societies advanced - by keeping the Christian dogma (the bible) out of government.
For the parties to be humanist, all parties that are of the form "Kurdish xyz Party" need to be banned. If you allow people to vote according to their race or sect, you end up with the hopeless situation that exists in Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, people vote for their religious sect, and it means that the losers appear to be second-class citizens. People should not be divided by their race or sect. They should be divided over how best to run the country - economic policy, that sort of thing.
The next thing you need to do is specifically renounce the Treaty of Westphalia and anything in the UN Charter that says that human rights are an internal sovereign issue. You should make a point of saying that you want the NATO countries to provide guarantees that in the event of a military coup, they will act to restore Iraq's democracy. Such a guarantee will ensure that no-one in Iraq's military will attempt such a coup in the first place. In addition, you should request a NATO presence in the Kurdish areas for as long as the Kurds feel necessary.
I hope it's not too late for you to get one of these forms filled in and affect the final outcome. If you don't get the above incorporated, then I suggest you veto the new constitution.
# posted by Paul Edwards @ 10:55 
