“Lack of legitimacy is the weakest spot of Saddam’s regime. I agree with your analysis and your project, because it delegitimizes him. It is a brilliant idea because it is based on peaceful means, and because it hammers at the root of the problem -the legitimacy of the regime- instead of trimming the top of the tree. It reminds me of when people delegitimized Milosevic and he lost power.”

“I support your idea of a transparent constitutional convention. Democracy is the solution for Iraq.”

“We are on the same wavelength. I share your view fully. I share your outlook and your conceptualization of democracy. The future of Iraq and its stability hinges on political stability and the key is political trust. The people of Iraq must have confidence in the transition of power. We should start a process now; we should not wait for the day after. We need your help; we need allies and experts to help promote democracy“.

“This is a good idea. So what do we do now?”

“We are on the same wavelength. This conference should not be behind closed doors, I am intimately involved in this. We cannot do politics in the old way; we must do it in a new way. We want public impact, public demonstrations of support. I completely agree that we need to take the case to the public, and that a broad transparent process is needed to create a democratic government in exile. I appreciate your enthusiasm. A group of us has been writing a report about plans for a provisional government.”

“It is a beautiful idea, I’d love to do it, but how?”

“I completely agree with your analysis that the UN inspections are a farce because they are irrelevant to freeing the Iraqi people from this dictator and his atrocities. Saddam can easily cheat and conceal his WMD as he has done in the last 11 years. We must find another way to get rid of him without a US war that might destroy the country and inflict heavy civilian casualties. The US goal is disarming Saddam and replacing him with a more compliant regime to secure the oil. I also agree that Saddam’s regime is very weak, to the point that if the Americans simply enforced in the South what they enforce in the North -not allow Saddam to move his tanks and heavy artillery or use his WMD against the population- it would not take more than 2 weeks for him to fall. People in South and central Iraq would rise up and free themselves as they did in March 1991. I fully agree too that any constitutional convention should be completely open to the media and television, and in fact, ALL meetings of the Iraqi opposition should be that open. This is vital to prevent the horse-trading that happens now. My main worry is adequate representation of the Iraqi people inside Iraq. The proposal to have 50% of delegates selected by the Diaspora is a step forward.”

“We have to be transparent, we must struggle to be democratic and transparent, and to have an open society. The future government of Iraq should be legitimate and recognized by Iraqi people inside and outside of Iraq, and represent the broadest spectrum. The goal is to have free elections in Iraq to have a constitutional convention to elect government and modernize the 1925 constitution. It is up to the Iraqi people to decide whether they want a constitutional monarchy or a republic.”

“We agree to a broad-based transparent constitutional convention and that Iraq should be unified, federal, democratic, secular, with free elections and a Bill of Rights.“

“ The INC has lost credibility, a new framework should be established. The new group should be based on democracy, transparency, and accountability.”

“ This is a great idea which as a businessman, I like because it is out-of-the-box, innovative, and it maximizes the benefits while minimizing the risks. The job of the Iraq Business Council to help reconstruct Iraq will be much easier if we can get rid of Saddam Hussein without a war, so we should try this alternative first. Also, having a democratic government in exile avoids a power vacuum whenever Saddam falls.