A Theoretical Document Presented to the Third Congress of The Iraqi National Coalition Conference
Polarization forced on Iraq, the Arab and the South countries, sundry challenges, like, on the top of them, facing the American singularity and the increasing tendencies for dominating the world and trifling with the destinies of peoples and their social and economic choices. In the frame of these tendencies, stark fascistic and hostile policies against the rights and dreams of (non-American) peoples around the world, have been increasing within the successive American administrations since the collapse of the former Soviet Union. In this context, globalization seems to mean, in a certain way, a manner of Americanizing the world; and its mottoes have been used to pass ideas, programs and policies which are essentially hostile to the ambitions and interests of large number of peoples and states. By the rising of the conservative right wing, the extremist and fascist, in the United States of America, at the beginning of the third millenium, and its success in reaching presidency, these policies, programs and ideas took an unprecedented strategic characteristic based on a sum of racist notions; which The Conflict of Civilizations, has summarized in the call for preserving the supremacy of the Western culture over the different cultures by force.
In stead of looking for fair partnership among the peoples and the cultures of this world, the Zionized Christian right wing in the American administration is looking for “military solutions” for the political and economic problems. By doing this, it accelerates its hostile tendencies, and it is using the hellish USA military machinery in order to force peoples to accept the absolute American domination. In this context, the continuos and direct war against Iraq since 1990 is an embodiment of the dominating American policies; which are fundamentally bound to the Zionist occupation of Palestine and the Arab land…—this presents, today, a constant danger on our country and people.
The Iraqi National Coalition, who presented in its documents and analyses since its first conference in 1992 its ideas and speculations of the real meaning and the strategic and political dimensions of the beastly aggression and the unfair boycott on our country, still sees this continuos hostile war, which is threatening Iraq´s independence and historical choices at the roots, as an actual manifestation of a dominating policy, imposing authority, demolishing the nationalistic wills and controlling Iraq´s and the Arab nation´s resources.
The Iraqi National Coalition, very early on, investigated the inseparability between, on the one hand, basing a real and effective comprehensive nationalistic reconcilement between all the powers in the Iraqi society, and, on the other hand, the ways and the means of facing the American aggression. Consequently, the Coalition translated this inseparability in its documents, policies and practices; and it still sees, in understanding the dimensions of this inseparability, a strong and good basis for intellectual, political partnerships between all the Iraqi nationalistic groups and powers. From this standpoint, the Coalition is presenting, today, to all the powers of the Iraqi society, its meditative conceptions of the hoped-for political life in Iraq based on the following fact: transforming to democracy and moving the country away from the one-party epoch to diversity, is inseparably connected, in a strong and unprecedented way, to issues of defending independence and resisting and facing the country-threatening dangers, the external aggression on which America is keeping on hammering throughout the world. Doubtlessly, this inseparability imposes, equally on the Iraqi nationalists and on the authority, the necessity of improving all kinds of public confrontation of the aggressive war; this will be achieved by creating the means, the conditions and the ways that enable the country, with all its cultural social and political powers and components, to participate actively and directly in protecting the country from the aggressors. In this respect, the comprehensive intellectual dialog towards the national reconcilement between all sides in the Iraqi political work, and elevating it to a level of consciousness of the historical responsibilities, is the only way towards establishing a new basis for the political and party work in the future.
For all that, and for establishing active bases of a party, political and intellectual life, where rationality, dialog and good relations between all parties and powers, dominate, getting separated from the “inherited” hateful mutual struggle and the period of devastating disparities and fights which drowned the country, at the end of the fifties and the sixties of the late century, in a whirl of blind political violence, becomes obligatory. The Iraqi National Coalition is presenting the following speculations of the aimed-for political life in Iraq.
FIRST: All the sides in the Iraqi national work commit themselves to wide political congruities with national and nationalistic bases, in defending the country and its choices and protecting its independent historical progress, and in defending the great issues, like, on the top, the Palestinian strife for freeing the land from the Zionist occupation and colonization, and for the right of return, self-determination and independent state. In this context, all sides in the political work commit to supporting the destined bonds and relations with the Arab countries, and to developing all kinds of the current economic and political cooperation, and to pushing these relations to a future of complementing union. In the nationalistic course, it will be urgent and necessary to find congruities; keeping in mind that the need to fulfill the cultural identities must be bound to what would strengthen and consolidate the unity of Iraq, and participate in enriching its diversity; and this need must not to be used in weakening and dividing the unity of the country.
SECOND: The aimed-for congruities would represent, a , completely new and nationalistic, “social covenant”; which must be committed to by all the powers of the Iraqi society and be the bases and the standpoint of an intellectual, political life that will come down to serving the society and its interests. These congruities, which the Coalition is seeking to reach with its political partners, are the intellectual, political bases from which it is possible to have an attitude in which all the nationalistic sides, the authority, the active social powers and independent characters will take part in crystallizing. The bases mentioned here are the following:
1. Any dialog for democracy and diversity must be made in the frame of the high interests of the country and people, and not in the frame of narrow selfish personal interests of any side, whether that side was a governor or the governed. In this context, the direct aim of the comprehensive political dialog must be: defining new goals for the national work, and the roles of active politicians, which will help in deterring and preventing all kinds of political domination and subordination.
2. The aim of the dialog for democracy must be rebuilding and establishing a new, real, active party, political and intellectual life; which will be a standpoint to rebuild a new political environment based on mutual respect, compatibility, emancipation and justice, and in order to enable every political nationalistic side to define its own role. In this regard, the dialog for democracy must be based on the principle of repudiating mutual struggle and quitting practices and mottoes that threaten the bases of the open political life.
3. Our people have sad memories of the way the practices of the political work, in the near and far past, has ended, when the parties slipped to ways of violence, fight and mutual struggle. And instead of calling to stop this decline by the active powers of the society, manifestations of hostility arose and increased, and took various shapes, which, eventually, exhausted the active powers of the society, and stripped the political work of its moral and creative condition. This has dedicated the tendencies of violence and using it, destructively on wide scale, and reached the point where politics has been void of its conditions which make it a high manifestation of culture. Concomitantly, in stead of rehabilitating politics, as a humane activity with noble and moral content, it has been presented as a synonym of whatever that is amoral, opportunistic and trading with people´s destinies. Consequently, this tragic development in the political life during the successive authorities in Iraq, has got a specific characteristic which dedicated tow basic levels of activity:
…· Increasing the authority´s tendency towards more systematic violence; supporting the establishments by public money and by the absolute political decision; monopolizing the national work; and excluding the other.
…· Increasing the tendency of parties and political powers to use violence as a way to solve political and intellectual controversies, and to adopt “the culture of mutual struggle” as a basis for the relations between the nationalistic powers; a state of affairs that destroyed all possible chances for dialog.
This bitter condition, actually drove the public away from politics and excluded it from every destiny-shaping events, and drowned it in desperation, never-mind-state and withholding from participation. Today, it must be actively worked on bringing the public back to politics, by all right political ways and means, and encourage it to break the barrier of fear and hesitation, and start again working in the general and the private public activities. The real source of danger to any outspoken political life in the future, lies in the culture of violence; in the weariness and uneasiness about the other opinion and resisting it; and in depriving the intellectual and political individuals and groups from the opportunity of exchanging ideas and making them public. For that reason, and for evading the dangers of the violent disagreements and mutual struggle in the future, there must be outspoken nationalistic congruities to be separated from the hateful past of mutual struggle, to quit the culture of violence and force, and to repudiate the made-up struggles and the exaggeration in the mottoes which would be used as a supply for struggles and scandals.
THIRD: It must be agreed on the only standpoint for politics as a constitutional embodiment of the notion of citizenship, and as a support of this notion´s cultural and social components. The aimed-for citizenship means creating a space where the individual, as a free human being, can practice his/her own private and public activity within the frame of the state. For that, the attention of the sides of the national work must be directed to establishing bases for the citizenship and defending it, as it is the only basis for any intellectual, cultural or political work or activity.
FOUR: The notion of citizenship must prevail in the society and in the intellectual, constitutional and political life, in the context of supporting the legal perspective of the society as a “committee for free citizens”; and that of the authority as the “executive machinery” which is employed to serve society not to dominate and control it. In this frame, the transformation to democracy and party-life, which is considered to be a historical process and hard to be accomplished directly or in one time, will be possible and achievable in reality. This will be due to a series of steps and measurements which will spread openness in the Iraqi public life, and which will make qualitative move that will end epochs of autocracy political monopoly and the denial of the other´s right to differ. As much as this task seems to be, basically, on the shoulder of the authority, it is also the responsibility of the nationalistic opposition to make a radical change in the political speech for the benefit of defining the new objects for social and political stride; on the top of these objects is prevailing the peaceful stride for democracy. It is very important to note here that such a move demands a consciousness that takes into account the nice condition of the country; the psychological, cultural, social and political complexities which the beastly and unfair boycott has created during the last and long years; and the deprivation and the exclusion of the party life. The participation of all sides of the nationalistic work in the future political life, to formulate and crystallize the ideas and the gradual and rational measurements, will be a very important participation to a large extend when it will be possible to connect it with improving the humane daily conditions of the Iraqi society, and bringing the citizen back to politics as a social activity.
FIVE: The real guarantee for difference and opinion, is not law only, it is also the new social culture which must prevail and be promoted for and supported. This culture will be the basis for defending and supporting the high interests of society and state; and will be the real watch of modern and urban life where the dignity and rights of the individual are preserved. This goal will demand, to be achieved, a clear, frank, outspoken national congruity, among all sides of the national work, to ban the political mutual struggle, and to deter, prevent and repudiate the destroyed and humane-feeling-destroying “culture of violence”; and at the same time, to be bent on the preserving the political “stability” in the country.
The Iraqi National Coalition, while looking forward to these congruities, in its wide outline, is hoping for an active and real participation, along this line, from all sides (the opposition, authority, independents, and all the cultural, social, spiritual and intellectual powers of the society). The Coalition is desiring as well a rise of new policies and ideas which will be really able to create radical treatments…—a guarantee to a free and legal moral competition between the speculations and the political programs; which will directly serve the people´s objectives and the country´s high interests.
The third conference of the Iraqi National Coalition
Paris, 07-02-2003
