WP: In Iraq, Bush Pushed For Deadline Democracy

[Pirate Smile]

In Iraq, Bush Pushed For Deadline Democracy
Timeline Yields New Elected Order, Not Peace

By Peter Baker and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, December 11, 2005; Page A01

Whenever he was asked in public last winter about the prospect of delaying Iraq's first election since the fall of Saddam Hussein, President Bush flatly dismissed it. His administration, he insisted, was "very firm" on going forward.

But inside the White House, Bush's team was anything but firm. A powerful debate was raging, officials now acknowledge, among the president's top advisers over postponing the Jan. 30 interim election in hopes of first tamping down the flaring insurgency and bringing disaffected factions to the table.

"There was a good debate in front of the president," recalled national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley. "It was a close question and if it had gone to consensus, I don't know how it would have come out."

Ultimately, it did not go to a consensus decision but to Bush, who opted to stick with the election, a decision with distinct costs and benefits as the United States labored to build a democratic government in Iraq from the ground up. When U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer transferred sovereignty to Iraqi authorities in June 2004, he left behind a script with hard-and-fast deadlines for drafting a constitution and forming a government, a script that culminates Thursday with another election for a permanent parliament.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/10/AR2005121001379.html

[Pirate Smile]

1. more

"The story of the 18-month process that unfolded after Bremer left Baghdad was one of ruthless fidelity to the script, as well as a costly period of U.S. inattention and endless frustrations with squabbling Iraqi leaders, as reconstructed through interviews with a wide array of Bush advisers, Iraqi politicians and others involved in the effort. While Bush refuses to set a timetable for military withdrawal, he has stuck doggedly to the Bremer political timetable despite qualms of his staff, relentless violence on the ground and disaffection of Iraq's minority Sunni Arabs.

Bush's deadline democracy managed to propel the process forward and appears on the verge of creating a new government with legitimacy earned at the ballot box. His approach resulted in a constitution often described as more democratic than any in the Arab world. Yet by pushing forward without Sunni acceptance, the Bush team failed to produce the national accord it sought among Iraq's three main groups, leaving a schism that could loom beyond Thursday's election. And the Sunni-powered insurgency that was supposed to be marginalized by an inclusive democracy remains as lethal as ever.

"The key for a long time in Iraq to stabilization . . . has been to pull in significant elements of Sunnis near the insurgency into the political process," said Larry Diamond, a Stanford scholar who for a short time advised U.S. authorities in Iraq, only to become a scathing critic. The press to meet the Bremer deadlines, starting in January, he said, only fueled the militants. "Much of the violence after that was entrenched or reinforced by the elections when the Sunnis were pressed to the margins."

-snip-
Yet the vote that was supposed to end Iraq's transition will not be the last. The consequence of sticking to the schedule without Sunni agreement will be another year of haggling. The issues that most divide Iraq's factions have been put off until the new government opens a four-month debate on constitutional amendments. If there is agreement, then Iraqis will go to polls again -- part of a compromise that was not part of the Bremer script -- to vote on a revised constitution.

[global1]

2. What A Guy That Bush......

how many more of our troops will die for his lying us into this war. I hope the media doesn't show him enjoying his Christmas. How many of the parents, wives, husbands, children, significant others, friends of those who died for his lies will enjoy the holidays? It would be a slap in their face if they show *Co (and I mean *, Cheney, Rice, Rove, etc) having a good time at Christmas when so many over the world will be suffering.

[grytpype]

3. Wow, they really pin the failure on Bush!

Check out that headline! And the story makes it clear that sticking to the timetable was a big mistake, and it was Bush's mistake!

As the deadline approached, Bush and his advisers meeting at his Texas ranch once again were consumed with the same debate as in January -- whether to break the schedule to craft a deal that would satisfy the Sunnis.

Bush, who instinctively dismisses doubters and abhors changing course, again stuck to the plan. "We've got to keep the deadline there to force the parties to make the hard decisions to reach compromise," Bush told advisers, according to Hadley.

...

"The one single worst mistake was the rigid, shortsighted adherence to the August 15 deadline," said Jonathan Morrow of the U.S. Institute of Peace, who advised constitutional drafters. That "had consequences for Sunnis buying into the constitutional text. . . . It's a hopeless situation and it's progressively more difficult to remedy."

[maddezmom]

4. kick

[sabra]

5. WP: In Iraq, Bush Pushed For Deadline Democracy

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/10/AR2005121001379.html

In Iraq, Bush Pushed For Deadline Democracy
Timeline Yields Constitutional Order, Not Peace

Whenever he was asked in public last winter about the prospect of delaying Iraq's first election since the fall of Saddam Hussein, President Bush flatly dismissed it. His administration, he insisted, was "very firm" on going forward.

But inside the White House, Bush's team was anything but firm. A powerful debate was raging, officials now acknowledge, among the president's top advisers over postponing the Jan. 30 interim election in hopes of first tamping down the flaring insurgency and bringing disaffected factions to the table.

"There was a good debate in front of the president," recalled national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley. "It was a close question and if it had gone to consensus, I don't know how it would have come out."

Ultimately, it did not go to a consensus decision but to Bush, who opted to stick with the election, a decision with distinct costs and benefits as the United States labored to build a democratic government in Iraq from the ground up. When U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer transferred sovereignty to Iraqi authorities in June 2004, he left behind a script with hard-and-fast deadlines for drafting a constitution and forming a government, a script that culminates Thursday with another election for a permanent parliament.

[Skink]

6. Again we are in no way even attempting to spread Democracy....

If anyone thinks we are subscribe to the Times select so you can get Friedman.

[wanpete]

7. This headline, to me, is intentionally confusing...

it appears to the casual reader, that * actually pushed for a deadline, as opposed to white house staffers pushing * for a timetable.

Of course, I'm sure this was purely unintentional:sarcasm:

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Fed directly to the Post from Administration Hacks

Is the Post completely devoid of shame?

Despicable.