Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
January 23, 2008 By Abeer Mohammed and Solomon Moore
BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers adopted a modified version of the national flag on Tuesday, removing three stars that symbolized the Baathist ideals of unity, freedom and socialism, and Saddam Hussein’s handwritten calligraphy of the Koranic incantation “Allahu akbar.”
The incantation, which means God is great, will remain on the flag, though it will now be written in a different calligraphic style.
Members of Parliament voted 110 to 50 for the flag, which was introduced in 2004 and bears the red, white and black stripes of Iraq’s original banner. The design preserves a sense of continuous national identity, while purging the flag of Baathist allusions, supporters say.
Kurdish politicians, many of whom survived the genocidal gas bombings by Hussein forces in the Anfal, or spoils of war, campaign of the 1980s, were among the fiercest critics of the old flag. In 2006, Massoud Barzani, president of the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, refused to fly the flag from government offices, prompting fear of Kurdish separatism.
On Tuesday, however, Kurdish lawmakers pushed for a compromise, dropping their insistence on yellow lettering for the Arabic inscription, for a design without Baathist references.
Zuhair Humadi, a senior adviser to the Shiite-led Iraqi government, said the Kurds sought the deal before an international conference of members of Arab Parliaments in weeks.
“They won’t come if only the Kurdish flag is flying,” Mr. Humadi said of the Arab leaders. “And Barzani wanted that meeting to be in Kurdistan, and he will not allow Saddam Hussein’s flag to be flown. So they agreed to this.”
The new flag continues to generate disagreements and conflicting national narratives among Iraqis.
One supporter was Hameed Meala, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which for years had waged an armed struggle with Mr. Hussein’s forces.
Regarding the three stars, Mr. Meala said, “It is obvious that they refer to unity, freedom and socialism — the goals of the Baath Party, as announced during Saddam’s regime.”
However, two other Shiite factions, Fadhila Party and the Sadr movement; the Sunni-led Tawafiq Party; and the nationalist Iraqia List favored keeping the stars.
“We wanted the verse to be written in Kufic script and to keep the three stars,” said Ahmed al-Masody, a Sadrist lawmaker. “We would have announced that they don’t symbolize the Baath Party, but other principles, like justice.”
Several lawmakers said that because the flag had been changed out of Kurdish expediency, they expected it to be changed again.
The flag is the second design to be introduced in Iraq since the American-led invasion in 2003. In 2004, the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council announced a white, blue and yellow flag with a prominent Islamic crescent. That design was scrapped after Iraqis criticized it for being too radical a change from the original, and too similar to the blue and white flag of Israel.
Iraqi politicians then kept the old design, including the three stars, but replaced Mr. Hussein’s writing with an angular pre-Islamic script that originated in Kufa, a city in southern Iraq.
During Mr. Hussein’s 24-year dictatorship, his name and face adorned state buildings, national monuments and public squares. Since the American-orchestrated toppling of Mr. Hussein’s statue in Firdous Square in Baghdad, Iraqis have aggressively removed Baathist references from the national landscape.
Last year, politicians decided to dismantle one of Iraq’s most recognizable landmarks, two gigantic arms holding aloft crossed swords and a collection of helmets to symbolize Mr. Hussein’s proclaimed victory over Iran during a 1980-1988 war. Mr. Hussein is believed to have provided the original cast for the arms.
Iraqis expressed varying opinions about the new flag.
“We refuse this change, because this flag does not favor any political group, but represents the unity of Iraq,” said Sheik Mohammad Saleh al-Butchery, a spokesman for the Falluja Tribal Council in Sunni-dominated Anbar Province.
Kareem Jameel, a 45-year-old journalist in Basra, a predominantly Shiite, called the change necessary. “If we want to build a new Iraq, then we have to change Saddam’s flag,” he said.
But many Iraqis, burdened by uncertain security, frequent electricity failures, poverty and disenchantment with their leadership, complained that Parliament had more important things to worry about than flag designs.
“The government’s priorities should be to make people happy by getting rid of terrorism, providing security and purging the country from gangs and militiamen,” said Idress Yunis, 35, a Baghdad shop owner.
News of the adoption of the flag was released amid reports of sporadic violence throughout Iraq.
In Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, Iraqi police officers said they had found the bodies of a family, a father, his three sons and three nephews. They had been shot to death and discovered in Buhruz, the police said.
In Baquba, the provincial capital, a water boiler packed with explosives exploded near a high school and a checkpoint for an American-allied tribal security force, killing three people and wounding 12 students, the Iraqi police said, and, separately, a gunman killed a civilian near a medical clinic.
The bodies of two more Iraqis, a woman and a policeman, were discovered about 30 miles outside Hilla in the south, the Iraqi police said.
And in Basra, gunmen killed an Iraqi policeman, witnesses said.
Reporting was contributed by Alissa J. Rubin, Balen Y. Younis, and Wissam A. Habeeb from Baghdad, and Iraqi employees of The New York Times from Baghdad, Baquba, Hilla, and Basra.
January 23, 2008 By Abeer Mohammed and Solomon Moore
BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers adopted a modified version of the national flag on Tuesday, removing three stars that symbolized the Baathist ideals of unity, freedom and socialism, and Saddam Hussein’s handwritten calligraphy of the Koranic incantation “Allahu akbar.”
The incantation, which means God is great, will remain on the flag, though it will now be written in a different calligraphic style.
Members of Parliament voted 110 to 50 for the flag, which was introduced in 2004 and bears the red, white and black stripes of Iraq’s original banner. The design preserves a sense of continuous national identity, while purging the flag of Baathist allusions, supporters say.
Kurdish politicians, many of whom survived the genocidal gas bombings by Hussein forces in the Anfal, or spoils of war, campaign of the 1980s, were among the fiercest critics of the old flag. In 2006, Massoud Barzani, president of the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, refused to fly the flag from government offices, prompting fear of Kurdish separatism.
On Tuesday, however, Kurdish lawmakers pushed for a compromise, dropping their insistence on yellow lettering for the Arabic inscription, for a design without Baathist references.
Zuhair Humadi, a senior adviser to the Shiite-led Iraqi government, said the Kurds sought the deal before an international conference of members of Arab Parliaments in weeks.
“They won’t come if only the Kurdish flag is flying,” Mr. Humadi said of the Arab leaders. “And Barzani wanted that meeting to be in Kurdistan, and he will not allow Saddam Hussein’s flag to be flown. So they agreed to this.”
The new flag continues to generate disagreements and conflicting national narratives among Iraqis.
One supporter was Hameed Meala, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which for years had waged an armed struggle with Mr. Hussein’s forces.
Regarding the three stars, Mr. Meala said, “It is obvious that they refer to unity, freedom and socialism — the goals of the Baath Party, as announced during Saddam’s regime.”
However, two other Shiite factions, Fadhila Party and the Sadr movement; the Sunni-led Tawafiq Party; and the nationalist Iraqia List favored keeping the stars.
“We wanted the verse to be written in Kufic script and to keep the three stars,” said Ahmed al-Masody, a Sadrist lawmaker. “We would have announced that they don’t symbolize the Baath Party, but other principles, like justice.”
Several lawmakers said that because the flag had been changed out of Kurdish expediency, they expected it to be changed again.
The flag is the second design to be introduced in Iraq since the American-led invasion in 2003. In 2004, the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council announced a white, blue and yellow flag with a prominent Islamic crescent. That design was scrapped after Iraqis criticized it for being too radical a change from the original, and too similar to the blue and white flag of Israel.
Iraqi politicians then kept the old design, including the three stars, but replaced Mr. Hussein’s writing with an angular pre-Islamic script that originated in Kufa, a city in southern Iraq.
During Mr. Hussein’s 24-year dictatorship, his name and face adorned state buildings, national monuments and public squares. Since the American-orchestrated toppling of Mr. Hussein’s statue in Firdous Square in Baghdad, Iraqis have aggressively removed Baathist references from the national landscape.
Last year, politicians decided to dismantle one of Iraq’s most recognizable landmarks, two gigantic arms holding aloft crossed swords and a collection of helmets to symbolize Mr. Hussein’s proclaimed victory over Iran during a 1980-1988 war. Mr. Hussein is believed to have provided the original cast for the arms.
Iraqis expressed varying opinions about the new flag.
“We refuse this change, because this flag does not favor any political group, but represents the unity of Iraq,” said Sheik Mohammad Saleh al-Butchery, a spokesman for the Falluja Tribal Council in Sunni-dominated Anbar Province.
Kareem Jameel, a 45-year-old journalist in Basra, a predominantly Shiite, called the change necessary. “If we want to build a new Iraq, then we have to change Saddam’s flag,” he said.
But many Iraqis, burdened by uncertain security, frequent electricity failures, poverty and disenchantment with their leadership, complained that Parliament had more important things to worry about than flag designs.
“The government’s priorities should be to make people happy by getting rid of terrorism, providing security and purging the country from gangs and militiamen,” said Idress Yunis, 35, a Baghdad shop owner.
News of the adoption of the flag was released amid reports of sporadic violence throughout Iraq.
In Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, Iraqi police officers said they had found the bodies of a family, a father, his three sons and three nephews. They had been shot to death and discovered in Buhruz, the police said.
In Baquba, the provincial capital, a water boiler packed with explosives exploded near a high school and a checkpoint for an American-allied tribal security force, killing three people and wounding 12 students, the Iraqi police said, and, separately, a gunman killed a civilian near a medical clinic.
The bodies of two more Iraqis, a woman and a policeman, were discovered about 30 miles outside Hilla in the south, the Iraqi police said.
And in Basra, gunmen killed an Iraqi policeman, witnesses said.
Reporting was contributed by Alissa J. Rubin, Balen Y. Younis, and Wissam A. Habeeb from Baghdad, and Iraqi employees of The New York Times from Baghdad, Baquba, Hilla, and Basra.