``..If the major competing groups can decide upon the need for a UN mission regardless of their differences on how to deal with the Americans this would be the final blow to occupation. Ideally, this would mean the marriage of the military and the politcal approaches with al Sadr's Mahdi army keeping the pressure high with legitimate resistance while Sistani used his moral authority to approach the UN...'' .d.
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Of course I don't know anything about Iraq, except what I read. But I do know the US, and as a full fledged patriot, born, raised and bred here, and dubious member of its white, over educated, over forty out of power elite, I am telling Iraq from my heart of hearts---get rid of us. There is nothing about our government or our people over there, you can trust. Nothing. Think Abu Ghraib. That's your future under US.
Whatever Iraqis groups there are, are not a insurgency. They are the occupation resistance. Abu Ghraib is not a counter-insurgency measure, it is an occupation enforcement measure. Those differences have to be kept in mind. Iraq is not represented by the United States.
So the only way I can figure out is of this mess is for Iraq groups themselves to go around the US occupation. It is very dangerous move, because it will expose them to a US accusation (with military assault back up) of leading the `terrorism' against the CPA. But if they can get at least one or two members of the CPA to resign in protest against the US, and to go over to them---then they can have those members speak to the US charge, in some kind of UN forum. Sure it is propaganda. Al Sadr, Sistani, and others are formenting some of the US resistance, they maybe a far cry from any concept I might have of `democratic' or even `popular' government. Most of that doesn't matter too much at the moment.
The key point is to creat an alternative Iraqi `voice' that has nothing to do with the US and that can get to the UN and advocate for Iraq, before the US creats some puppet and tries to legitimize it with the UN. In my ideal world, the Iraq alternative voice would be a completely secular independence movement with a lot of women and former academics in it, so the Islamic religious trappings are challenged or minimized. But that is probably too much to hope for.
The anti-US group has to get other states to sponsor their mission and that is a problem all its own. France, Russia, and Jordan would be ideal because they can not be challenged by the US with any creditability. All are former US allies in other contexts, plus France and Russia are permenant members of the Security Council. Of course France and Russia have had their own imperial designs on Iraq in the past, but most of that was not recent enough to matter. They are (would be) purely expediant token sponsors of the moment.
I have my own agenda here too. I want George Bush, John Kerry and everything that smacks of US neoliberal imperialism defeated, humilitated and scourged----so I can get my own country back to paying for public education, welfare, and my damned future social security and a rent subsidity checks. Fuck this global power shit.
...dreaming...
C