[Marxism] Without comment

[Einde O'Callaghan <einde@xxxxxx>]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-hayden/northern-irish-south-afr_b_66381.html
Huffington Post
September 28, 2007

Northern Irish, South Africa Leaders in Secret Peace
Discussion with Iraqi Parties

By Tom Hayden

Sunni and Shi'a leaders began a potential peace process
at secret meetings with leaders of the new Northern
Ireland and South Africa one month, signing draft set
of principles which resemble the protocols that guided
the peace settlements in those two countries.

Chairing the closed meetings near Helsinki were Martin
McGuinness, the former Irish Republican Army commander,
lead negotiator with the British, and now Deputy First
Minister of Northern Ireland, and Roelf Meyer, former
leader of the pro-apartheid National Party in South
Africa's peace negotiations. The Irish delegation also
included former IRA hunger striker Leo Green, minister
Jeffrey Donaldson, former Stormont speaker Lord
Alderdice, and former loyalist paramilitary leader
Billy Hutchison. South African participants included
ANC leaders Mac Maharaj and Rashid Ismail, key
participants in the military and political negotiations
in South Africa. [See "McGuinness in Iraqi Peace
Negotiations," An Phoblacht, Sinn Fein Weekly, Sept. 6,
2007, and "NI Figures Boost Iraqi Peace Talks," BBC,
Sept. 4, 2007]

The Iraq delegations' names have not been released but
reportedly included six Sunni and nine Shi'a who signed
a statement of principles. About 30 Iraqis were
present, including Akram al-Hakim, minister of national
reconciliation for the Baghdad government,
representatives of Moktada al-Sadr, Sunni leader Adnan
al-Dulaimi, and Humam Hammoudi, the Shi'a chairman of
the Baghdad parliament's foreign affairs committee.

There is no doubt that American and British authorities
knew about and approved the meeting, though they were
excluded from attending. Instead, the meeting was
facilitated and funded by the Finnish Crisis Management
Initiative [CMI] and the McCormack Graduate School at
the University of Massachusetts.

At this point, virtually no American media outlets have
reported the meeting, despite the importance of the
parties in attendance.

Irish political consultant Quentin Oliver, who directed
the successful referendum on the Good Friday Agreement
in 1998, summed up the significance: "The Iraqis saw
the dynamics from us. Apartheid removed. Troubles
accommodated. Baghdad next. They did it, not us. We
only helped." [Peter Fabricius, "Promising Future for
Iraq Thanks to SA Trio," Johannesburg Star, Sept. 6,
2007]

The Iraqis saw former military enemies -- McGuinness
and Hutchison, for example, or South African apartheid
leaders and ANC guerilla commanders -- chairing
meetings together on how sharply divided communities
can coexist.

The key question for the Iraqis, who are circulating
the draft at home, is whether the major parties believe
their armed strategies have reached a stalemated point
of no return, or whether one side [and foreign sponsors
like the U.S. and U.K.] still hopes for a military
victory. In South Africa and Northern Ireland, secret
peace discussions were initiated while the wars were
proceeding, but eventually grew into the peace
processes as the rival parties concluded that armed
struggle [or military occupation] had reached its
limits.

South Africa was first to settle its war, in 1994, and
the ANC became close advisers to the IRA as the Irish
peace process was being evaluated. At one point,
President Nelson Mandela even presided over discussions
in South Africa between republican and
unionist/loyalist leaders who would not sit in the same
rooms together.

The Finnish role in the current process stems from
former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari's past
involvement with the independent decommissioning agency
established in Northern Ireland.

The key moments at the meeting were when Irish and
South African representatives told stories of how their
militarized strategies ultimately led to stalemate and
the prospect of endless war. "The most remarkable
impression on the Iraqis was McGuinness, once evil
incarnate to the Protestants," who now sits as vice-
minister to First Minister Ian Paisley, the right-wing
fundamentalist preacher trained at Bob Jones University
who swore that the Catholic Church was the "whore of
Babylon." A meaningful peace process "only emerged in
both countries when all parties agreed that those who
adhered to violence had to be brought into
negotiations, and that those parties adhering to
violence had accepted that violence could never lead to
accommodation. One could see Iraq heads nod in
agreement." [Padraig O'Malley, Boston Globe op-ed,
September 24, 2007]

The so-called "Helsinki principles" which were agreed
to, with each Iraqi signatory praying "In-sha'Allah" as
they signed their names, are very general and appear
utopian, but so were the early framework agreements in
Ireland and South Africa. Most importantly, all parties
agreed to continue the discussions towards a
settlement.

The agreement commits all parties "to work towards a
robust framework for a lasting settlement [and] a set
of recommendations to start negotiations to reach
national reconciliation...The principles of
inclusivity, power-sharing and a commitment to removing
the use of violence as a means of resolving political
differences were among the most urgent concerns
agreed."

The 12 principles and 19 "political objectives," which
are online at Helsinkiagreement.com include:

* to resolve all political issues through nonviolence
and democracy;

* to form an independent commission approved by all
parties to supervise the process of disarmament in a
verifiable manner;

* to commit to accept the result of the negotiations
with no party subjected to threats of force;

* to establish an independent consultative body to
explore ways to deal with the legacy of the past in a
way that will unite the nation;

* "a common vision for all Iraqi political entities on
the importance of termination of the presence of
foreign troops in Iraq through the completion of
national sovereignty and rebuilding a national army and
security apparatus according to a national vision
within a realistic timetable";

* "to convince political groups that are currently
outside the political process to initiate and activate
a constructive dialogue to reach common
understandings";

* "to deal with armed groups which are not classified
as terrorist, encouraging them to use peaceful
political mens to address the conflict and to provide
their members with jobs and opportunities within state
administrations";

* "the cessation of the violation of the human rights
of Iraqi citizens and their properties by continuous
bombardment and military actions by foreign forces";

* "to be rational in political speeches, for the
national interest, and to move away from sectarian and
ethnic dispute";

* "to bring an end to the displacement of Iraqi people
and work to take care of those displaced, and secure
their safe return, with guarantees of their safety by
the national forces in cooperation with political
parties and tribal leaders."

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