Sabot Cat
Banned
LOCAL ELECTIONS HELD IN NAJAF, IRAQ
From: The Guardian
Published: October 4th 2001
SADDAM HUSSEIN CAPTURED BY U.S. FORCES
Published: October 17th 2001
SENATE RATIFIES IRAQI-AMERICAN TREATY; RUMSFELD, DOLE, GINGRICH, POWELL ATTEND WITH IRAQI LEADERS
Published: October 25th 2001
Six members of the Iraqi National Assembly (INA) have assembled at Independence Hall to witness the ratification of the peace treaty between the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America by the Senate.
“This generation is going to be the audience of a beautiful event we've witnessed in Eastern Europe a decade prior,” said President pro temp. Bob Dole, “which is the death of a despotic dictatorship, giving way to the birth of a new republic in the world, founded upon the principle of liberty and justice for all of its peoples.”
“Iraq is the birthplace of civilization,” said Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi National Coalition, “and I can thus assure the people of the United States that we have plenty of experience in self-governance that precedes us.”
Ahmad Chalabi, of the same national political caucus, said: “we are very grateful to the United States for liberating us from that tyrant Hussein, but its time for the Iraqi people to run their affairs.”
The two major points of this treaty were the declaration of the cessation of hostilities between the two nations, and a pledge of support from the United States in the face of internal disorder and external aggression when such is requested by the Iraqi government, or to maintain “a democratic form of governance”. This treaty is the legal successor to the earlier Iraqi Instrument of Government, signed between the United States and nominal representatives of the former Hussein regime before its constitution was repealed in full by the INA.
“We are not interested in nation-building,” said President Rumsfeld, “because that it is not a task to be accomplished by Americans, but the people of Iraq. Democracy is not always orderly, and the expression of new found freedoms can seem like lawlessness to unsympathetic observer. But stability and peace follow when political changes can be affected not by terrorism, but by vote.”
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich expounded more upon this in his own remarks to Congress: “What we're primarily interested in doing is putting Iraqis back at the center of this equation, as opposed to the U.N. or even the U.S., because we can trust that most Iraqis don't want a return to a brutal, murdering, raping dictatorship. Most Iraqis want order, and they want to be in charge of their new found independence.”
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, dismissed under controversial circumstances, made an unexpected appearance at the event after being invited by House National Unionists with general approval from their Republican colleagues. He compared the efforts of national reconstruction with those in the United States following the Inaugural Attacks, and stated that “the U.S. constitution was drafted after approximately 100 working days, and we believe that the people of Iraq can have similarly swift success in their endeavor to forge the basic law of their country.”
IRAQI NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: CONSTITUTION BY JANUARY, ELECTIONS BY JULY
From: BBC News
Published: November 9th 2001
SECTARIAN VIOLENCE LEAVES TWO SHI'ITE MEMBERS OF THE INA DEAD
From: The Guardian
Published: December 7th 2001
The two brothers who led the “Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq” Shi'ite political party, Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim and Mohammed Baqi al-Hakim, were killed by a bomb while on an off-business trip in Najaf, Iraq. Upwards of 115 other people were also claimed by the explosion, and the perpetrators remain unknown and at large.
“The SCIRI is viewed as an internal threat to Sunnis and the nation of Iraq by some violent extremists in this country because of their affiliation with the Shi'ite sect of Islam, and the nation of Iran,” said Jay Garner of the Multinational Supervisory Council, “but this not an excuse, just an explanation, for these horrendous and inexcusable act of political violence.”
“We grieve for them, and struggle to temper our anger with a commitment to our efforts to build a blessed new republic,” said Ibrahim al-Jaafari, of the same faith and political caucus as those claimed in the attacks, “and our resolve in doing so has only be strengthened.”
Jalal Talabani, founder of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said, “these assassinations do not frighten us, and it will not affect the representation of Iraq's diverse political, religious and ethnic groups in the council. Two members of the SCIRI party will be appointed with haste, and these terrorists will learn that violence is no longer an effective political tool in this country.”
THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS ROE V. WADE, UPHOLDS ABORTION BAN
From: Washington Post
Published: December 30th 2001
With surprising speed in its acceptance of the case and then its deliberation, the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and unanimously upheld the Prenatal Citizenship Act, passed in March of this year at North Dakota, in the landmark case Planned Parenthood v. North Dakota. Chief Justice Janice Brown stated, “the ruling given in Roe v. Wade was a farce from beginning to end giving an ad hoc justification for dismissing societal values and anointing themselves the final arbiters of traditional morality. It went against centuries of precedent, and I consider it the among the low points of the entire Supreme Court's history.”
Heading off any possible legislative counters to be proposed by any future Democratic Congress, she maintained that the Equal Protection Clause and “all constitutional rights” are “applicable to all citizens, no matter if they are inside or outside of the womb, even without this particular piece of legislation.”
A concurring opinion from Associate Justice Alberto Gonzales did not hold that the Equal Protection Clause would be applicable to fetuses without according legislation. “Where life begins is not as settled of an issue as Chief Justice Brown maintains,” said Associate Justice Dinh, “but there is nothing objectionable in the Prenatal Citizenship Act or like legislation.”
DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe has used this ruling as an opportunity to reemphasize the legislative agenda for his party, “our goal now is to re-establish the separation of powers in our federal government, through the reform of the current Rumsfeld Court.”
"I find it incredibly ironic that the Democrats are complaining about the Supreme Court arbitrating these issues," said North Dakota Governor John Hoeven.
It appears likely that other states will be passing similar abortion legislation, barring possible judicial reforms.
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