For a start, Raimondo is already out of date. His article, dated July 22nd, highlights the nationality clause:
"Any individual with another nationality (except for Israel) may obtain Iraqi nationality after a period of residency inside the borders of Iraq of not less than ten years for an Arab or twenty years for any other nationality.
"An Iraqi may have more than one nationality as long as the nationality is not Israeli."
but the PDF he links to, dated July 20th, says:
An Iraqi is allowed to bear more than one citizenship. An Iraqi who was stripped of his citizenship after February 8, 1968 for any reason is considered Iraqi and is entitled to regain (his citizenship).
(The reference to February 8, 1968 may be a drafting error. Presumably the drafters mean to offer citizenship back to those stripped of it by the Ba‘th party. But the Ba‘th came to power in a coup in July 1968, not February 1968. A coup did occur on February 8, 1963 (in which the Ba‘th participated though it was edged out of power later that year. The drafters may have conflated the two dates.
The earlier al-Mada draft took pains to exclude Israelis from those who could obtain dual citizenship. That effort is absent from this text. This more focused clause would not apply to most Israelis of Iraqi origin, since the vast majority would have lost citizenship rights considerably before 1968 (though some did emigrate in aftermath of espionage trials in 1969. The main purpose of this article is to treat those who lost citizenship in the 1970s—chiefly Shi‘a but also some Kurds.)
So, the exception for Israelis has already gone - but Raimondo reports it as if it's still there.
He then complains:
"The Iraqi people are one people, unified by belief and the unity of the homeland and culture. Anything that exposes this unity to danger is forbidden."
Uh oh. Does any of that sound familiar? Here's a hint for all you history buffs out there: "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuehrer!"
Except that sentence has disappeared from the new draft entirely, as far as I can see.
And this shows us where Raimondo is trying to go: constant references to Nazis. Didn't you realise that Social Security and free healthcare are Nazi ideas? Raimondo does:
There is nothing mysterious, however, about the politics of the authors of this constitution: national socialism with an Islamic veneer is the guiding principle animating the founders of the new Iraqi state. The socialist element infuses Article 5:
"The state shall guarantee the realization of the social guarantee necessary for citizens in case of old age, disease, inability to work, or if they are homeless, orphans, widowed, or unemployed. It shall provide them social insurance services and health care and protect them from the talons of ignorance, fear, and want, providing them with housing, and special programs to train them and care for them. A law shall be issued regarding this."
A pretty cushy deal, eh? Oh, but it gets better in Article 7:
"Iraqi citizens have the right to enjoy security and free health care. The Iraqi federal government and regional governments must provide it and expand the fields of prevention, treatment, and medication by the construction of various hospitals and health institutions".
He's desperate to call anything that isn't part of his libertarian ideals "national socialism". Anyway, here's the new draft on that subject:
9. Iraqi citizens have the right to enjoy security and free health care. It is the responsibility of the central Iraqi state and the regional, provincial, local, and municipal governments to provide (health care) and to expand (it) in the fields of prevention, treatment, and protection of children, pregnant women, school students, workers, the disable, and the aged.
...
25. Iraqi citizens have the right to enjoy security, education in all its stages, health care, and social insurance. The Iraqi state and its governmental units including he regions, provinces, municipalities, and local authorities shall ensure these rights within the limits of their resources, taking into consideration that the state shall strive to provide prosperity and employment opportunities for all members of the Iraqi people.
You could fit that right into any western European country's constitution. Anything there that any member of DU would object to? Maybe it's a bit too free-market - there's the get-out clause of "the limits of their resources", which may end up as an excuse "we can't raise taxes, because that would hurt the economy, so we won't provide healthcare".
And on freedom of the press:
21. Freedom of opinion, expression, organization, publishing, printing, the press, media, advertising, meetings, peaceful demonstration, and parties is guaranteed in accordance with the law and insofar as public security and morals are not harmed.
...
26. Freedom of the press, printing, publishing, media, and advertising are guaranteed and the law regulates the exercise of these freedoms.
27. There shall be no censorship on newspapers, printing, publishing, media, and advertising except by law.
It looks like they need to tidy this up - 3 clauses which could work against each other. But don't pretend that censorship doesn't exist in the USA, despite the first amendment - just think 'Janet Jackson'.
So, Raimondo is criticising an out-of-date version, using the tired cliche of calling anything he doesn't like "Nazi". It looks to me like it's still work in progress - some of the last clauses are similar to earlier ones, and are perhaps alternatives that haven't been agreed on yet. But if there's a joke here, it's Raimondo.
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