Lets play a game....

[Khephra]

What has to happen for Iraq to be self-governing?

[alexwcovington]

1. HEADLINE: January 20, 2005

HOWARD DEAN SWORN IN; VOWS TO GIVE IRAQIS SELF-GOVERNMENT

[kimchi]

2. They need an election.

But before that can happen they need security-a police force. And before that will work well, they need the electricity working, some jobs here and there, and a semblance of normalcy. Most of all, they need hope that they can revitalize their country.

Quite a tall order, and we've already spent over 75 billion according to the Iraq Cost of War clock.

http://costofwar.com/

[ronzo]

3. Step One...

They've got a "governing council". Now they need to put together a Constitution, right? Then elections. Anybody seen a bushco timetable for this? not me.

[Yupster]

4. Timetable

Supposed to have a constitution written in less than a year and elections to follow shortly after that.

My fear is everything works fine and the people elect a dictator who tears up the constitution.

[stickdog]

5. The Night of 1,000,000 Chalabis (NT)

[Silk]

6. Well first off we need to rebuild the country of Iraq

There are still pockets of resistence and if US troops are still being killed, Iraq is not ready to be a self-governing nation. What if a Shiite Regime takes over?

[IndianaGreen]

9. Don't you believe in democracy, or do you only pay lip service to it?

The Shias are the majority of the population. A democratic Iraq, in which every vote would be counted in an election, would have an Islamic Shia government, like Iran.

[newyawker99]

13. Hi Silk!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[WilliamPitt]

7. Hm. Lessee...

1. Everyone forget about all the oil up near Mosul.

2. No, seriously. Forget it.

3. You Turks and Kurds: I mean it. Read #1 very carefully.

4. I'm not kidding.

5. The Shia have to forget about having been fucked over by the Sunnis for generations

6. The Sunnis have to assume that the Shia won't read #5, and yet must refrain from defending themselves and/or asseting their assumed tribal leadership

7. Might be a good idea to close the fucking borders

8. Probably be a good idea to get all the massive corporate profiteers out, too, otherwise 'self-governing' is really kind of a laugher

9. All of the fanatical al Qaeda/fundamentalist/axe-to-grind-against-America militants just need to chill the fuck out, OK?

10. Everyone read #1 again.

[Spentastic]

8. A Time machine

It would probably be a good idea to travel back in time and tell the British that lumping three ethnic groups together and callling it a nationis not a good idea.

Alternatively you could travel back and tell the U.S not to support Saddam when he ascended to power.

Thirdly you could travel back just a few months and tell the U.S not to invade and occupy, instead let the U.N do the job of making Saddams position untenable.

However failing that you'd have to kill everyone in Iraq, move some people from Texas out there and then have an election.

[Iverson]

10. OK, I'll bite

In order for Iraq to be self-governing, there must be a national will for autonomy. Read that how you will.

There must be a framework that expresses that will, such as a consitution or long tradition.

There must be some apparatus of enforcement, typically police.

They must be free of occupying powers or other elements that directly block self-government.

More than this is, of course, desirable, but this is the minimum as I see it.

[gulliver]

11. The outside forces have to leave.

Duh, right?

But I don't think that outside forces (including the "coalition" and "immigrant terrorists") will leave until the Bushies/neocons are ready to let go. And that won't happen until Iraq is firmly in the U.S. political and business orbit.

And I'm not sure that will ever happen. I think we are trapped for quite a while. We let our guard down and elected a fraud. Now look at us.

[The Lone Liberal]

12. They need to be renamed.

oh, for instance, Germany