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Daily says Bremer should be sent packing

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 8, IRNA -- There is only one cause for the recent 
unrest in Iraq that left up to 250 people dead or injured :the 
incompetence of U.S administrator Paul Bremer in managing the 
country`s affairs, Tehran Times daily wrote in its editorial on 
Wednesday. 
The daily went on,"Bremer, apparently a capable U.S. diplomat, 
unfortunately has an aggressive attitude about resolving Iraq`s 
affairs. 
"Due to his scant knowledge of Iraq`s complicated social and 
religious structure, Bremer intends to use military power to suppress 
the biggest group of the Iraqi nation, the Shi`a." 
Tehran Times says the Iraqi Shi`as, who have suffered at the 
hands of despotic regimes for decades, felt they had been redeemed 
after the collapse of Saddam Hussein`s government. 
Therefore, ever since U.S. coalition forces occupied Iraq a year 
ago, Iraqi Shi`as only silently observed Iraq`s internal situation on 
the advice of certain clerics from Najaf. 
Although the coalition forces on certain occasions disrespected 
pilgrims visiting holy sites, the Shi`as remained silent since they 
did not want to be regarded as Saddam`s allies or members of the 
Al-Qaeda terrorist network, the daily wrote. 
Later, the drafting of the new Iraqi interim constitution and 
Bremer`s remarks to the effect that he would not allow it to be 
based on Islam angered Iraqi Muslims. 
Although their patience was being tested, the Iraqi Shi`as still 
only held peaceful protest demonstrations. 
U.S. officials, and especially Bremer, had considered the Shi`as 
silence a sign of their satisfaction with the way Iraq was being run. 
However, this silence is only the calm before the storm. 
Although Iraq`s most prominent Shi`a cleric,Grand Ayatollah 
Sistani, was opposed to Bremer`s demonic actions, he refused to more 
actively respond in order to prevent bloodshed and further 
manipulation of the situation. 
Also, one part of Iraq`s political scene consists of a group of 
young Shi`a clerics who could not remain silent about the disrespect 
shown toward the majority of the Iraqi nation. Therefore, they 
occasionally expressed their dissatisfaction with the actions of the 
U.S. administrator in Iraq. 
Tehran Times went on,"The recent bloody conflicts starting in 
Kufa and immediately spreading to Baghdad, Najaf, Nassiriya,and 
Basra, are a sign of Bremer`s failure to competently administer 
Iraq`s affairs, resulting in the death or injury of dozens of 
innocent people and several soldiers of the U.S.-led coalition forces.
"U.S. forces should not have closed down a local paper in Baghdad 
or issued an arrest warrant for a Shi`a cleric at such a sensitive 
juncture, but instead should have tried to solve these two simple 
problems with the help of certain moderate Shi`a clerics," wrote the 
paper. 
Now, there is only one option left for the U.S.: apologizing to 
the Iraqi nation, especially to the people of Najaf, Nassiriya, and 
Basra, and dismissing Bremer from his post, since it will no longer be
easy for Bremer to rule Iraq under the current circumstances. 
If the U.S. wants to withdraw its forces from Iraq in a dignified 
manner, it should make effort to immediately hand over power to the 
people of Iraq by holding a referendum under UN supervision and also 
deliver Saddam to a court to be established by Iraq`s future 
government. 
In order to end the current deadlock in Iraq, Bremer should be 
dismissed, UN peacekeepers should be dispatched to Iraq, the U.S.-led 
occupying forces should be withdrawn from the country, and free 
elections should be held. 
But if the U.S. insists on keeping Bremer in his post and 
continues to suppress the Iraqi nation, the country will face worse 
bloodshed in the future, which will probably spread to regional 
countries, concluded Tehran Times. 
1391/214 
End 



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