Iraq's fast-forward freedoms
UNITED NATIONS Ñ Before long the UN Security Council is expected to give its political blessing to a resolution which will formalize Iraqi sovereignty. Moreover on June 30th, the interim Baghdad government will receive the legal trappings of full state sovereignty. The U.S. rule will formally end just little more than one year after the American military liberated Iraq from SaddamÕs odious regime. Contrary to the critics, the handover to Iraqi self-rule and freedoms came surprisingly quickly, especially when contrasted to the cases of post-war Germany or Japan. Now comes the difficult part.
IraqÕs post-war political process has been on fast-forward pushed by global pressures, guided by Paul Bremer, and mid-wifed by the United Nations. The country will soon embark on a new but perilous course. Now letÕs look at a page of history.
Following the defeat of HitlerÕs Germany in 1945, the Allied occupation was confronted first and foremost with rebuilding and resettlement. Cities were in rubble, there were mass civilian casualties, and twelve million refugees fleeing the Soviets flooded West Germany. Food was scarce and rationed, services shattered, and the money worthless. The central government was non-existent. In a word everything was Kaput.
On the political front the Allies Ñ the Americans, British and French Ñ set up respective military Zones of Occupation. Equally the Allies established the political units, the States (Laender) and then duly appointed their governments; elections on the state level took place in 1946. The Soviets for their part, turned East Germany into a dutiful communist regime.
By 1948, the Western allies permitted the states to convene a constituent assembly. Known as the Parliamentary Council, the body comprised members of the two major political parties the Christian Democrats and the Socialists. In May 1949, the Council passed the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. Elections to the first free post-war Parliament, the Bundestag, were held in August 1949 and Konrad Adenauer became GermanyÕs post-war Chancellor. Thus it took four years to adopt the constitution. By early 2005 in contrast, IraqiÕs will choose a constituent assembly, and will yet again vote in a referendum to adopt the document in Autumn 2005.
The point is that Germany had a multiplicity of democratic pre-war political parties, and a long but factious political scene prior to the Hitler regime in 1933. Thus there was a tradition to revive and a foundation to build upon. Despite the plethora of Iraqi political groups, few have deep roots and mass bases except for SaddamÕs Baath socialists.
Through the 1952 Treaty on Germany, the three Allied powers granted the Bonn government Òfull power of a sovereign state.Ó Many military occupation statues lingered for a few more years until 1955 when Chancellor Adenauer proudly proclaimed ÒThe occupation is over, the Federal Republic of Germany is truly a sovereign state.Ó A full decade passed from the fall of the Third Reich to full sovereignty.
But because of GermanyÕs West/East divide, and the unique privileges of the Allied powers, even the application of the two German states to the UN is 1973 had to be given the formal approval by the Allied governments. And until unification in 1990, the air corridors between West Germany and the isolated city of West Berlin were exclusively controlled by the Allies Ñ only commercial carriers like Pan Am could make the flights.
In Japan there was much of the same during the post-1945 Occupation. General Douglas Mac ArthurÕs benevolent regency over defeated and devastated Japan not only controlled the political process but literally wrote the post-war constitution. Here too full state sovereignty for the Japanese came only in 1952. Recall that in both Germany and Japan, U.S. forces still maintain military bases nearly sixty years after the war.
The political timetable in post war Iraq has been put on fast-forward driven by events, editorials, and naive enthusiasm. But can IraqÕs fragile political foundations sustain the weight of factional and intra-Islamic rivalries, the threat from well armed anti-democratic forces, and the post-Saddam trauma which affects the nation?
IraqÕs Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the Security Council that his new government wants U.S.-led multinational troops to stay on for the foreseeable future, warning that their premature departure would lead to chaos and civil war. Yet the Iraqi government wants the authority to decide on the status of these forces. Clearly the crucial element of security remains pivotal for the success not only of the political transition but the grand experiment in Iraqi democracy. The process appears on track Ñ to what end is debatable.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense
issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.  |
