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Sunday, February 29, 2024
By Steven Taylor

Iraqis Said to OK Interim Constitution

Some interesting bit:

  • Qanbar said the draft charter will recognize Islam as “a source of legislation” — rather than “the” source as some officials had sought — and that no law will be passed that violates the tenets of the Muslim religion.
  • The draft charter accepts the principle of federalism but leaves it up to a future elected national assembly to decide the details of self-rule for the Kurdish minority. It allows the current Kurdish autonomy government to continue “under a united Iraq,” Qanbar said.
  • The document also sets aside for women 25 percent of the seats in the provisional legislature
  • “There was an agreement among all council members that Iraq will not be an Islamic state,” Qanbar said. “The language was put in a way not to offend the Islamic identity of most of the people but nor to offend the other side and give the impression that it’s an Islamic state.”
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  • By Steven Taylor

    As soon as I get paid $300ish (or even $150ish) an hour to blog, then I will be more fastidious about my typos.

    So there!

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    By Steven Taylor

    Democrats Criticize White House Role in Haiti

    Kerry said Bush had “empowered the insurgents” by failing to step in sooner and added, “I never would have allowed it to get out of control the way it did.”

    So, Kerry advocates inserting US troops in a third worl country in chaos to fight indigenous insurgents who wish to overthrow the existing government?

    This is what he learned in Viet Nam?

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    By Steven Taylor

    Iraqi Leaders Miss Deadline for an Interim Constitution.

    I am not surprised by the missing of the deadline, nor is missing it all that big a deal in and of itself. However, I continue to be quite concerned that an overly artificial deadline for power transfer has been set, and that there has been insufficient planning for that process. The establishment of a stable and at least quasi-democratic government is essential, and I am not confident that the administration has adequately placed Iraq on that path.

    Also, politically the power exchange could be the issue vis-a-vis Iraq in the presidential campaign. If it goes badly, Bush could be damaged to the point of defeat.

    Further, no matter how well it goes (or how poorly) there is almst certainly going to be some drama, as the insurgents (whether they are remnants of the regime or al Qaeda types) will not want the exchange to go well. Hence, I expect July to be quite a violent month in Iraq.

    And, indeed:

    “Bremer is really pressing us,” said Mahmood Othman, another Governing Council member. “Everyone is hungry and sleepy. This is not the way write the law of a country.”

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    By Steven Taylor

    From the OpinionJournal a few days ago:

    U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacob P. Hart is a stickler for the rules. Spelling rules, that is. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, while Judge Hart allowed Bucks County lawyer Brian Puricelli to collect $300 an hour for his courtroom work on a recent case, Mr. Puricelli was limited to only $150 an hour for his writing–because it was replete with careless typos. In addition to making repeated references to the “United States District Court for the Easter [sic] District of Pennsylvania,” Mr. Puricelli listed the judge’s name as “Jacon” Hart. “I appreciate the elevation to what sounds like a character in The Lord of the Rings,” the judge wrote, “but, alas, I am but a judge.”

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    By Steven Taylor

    Bush Orders Marines to Haiti to Help Restore Order.

    It is an ugly situation, but our presence will curtail violence and we do have some responsibility here, since we did restore Artistide to power back in ’94.

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    By Steven Taylor

    Robert Prather excerpts a piece from the WSJ on the signficance of current polling of the President. It well defines a point I have made on several occassions(such as here and here)
    , which is: it doesn’t mean much about what will happen in November.

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    By Steven Taylor

    Aristide Leaves Haiti to ‘Avoid Bloodshed’

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    By Steven Taylor

    From the LAT: S.F. Gets a Week to Make Case for Gay Marriage

    The California Supreme Court refused to immediately halt this city’s same-sex marriages on Friday but decided that it would swiftly consider whether to review the legal challenges to those nuptials.

    The state’s highest court gave San Francisco seven days to present arguments to the judges why they should not immediately order the city to stop marrying gay couples and invalidate the 3,400 licenses already issued.

    The city also plans to ask the court to determine whether the state Constitution protects same-sex unions.

    Under state law, marriage is defined as between “a man and a woman.” The city argues that the California Constitution, however, protects against discrimination and, therefore, allows the same-sex marriages.

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    By Steven Taylor

    Since a lot of PoliBlog readers care about this topic (or, more accurately, a lot of Google-powered individuals care about this topic who find PoliBlog), I thought I would note that Tony Snow’s radio program starts tomorrow.

    The show will run 9-12 est and will debut in 40 markets (so says this story, anyway). I don’t know which markets.

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