New Iraqi Flag Meets With Public Disapproval (washingtonpost.com) : "BAGHDAD, April 26 -- It was supposed to be the perfect symbol for a new and unified Iraq: an Islamic crescent on a field of pure white, with two blue stripes representing the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and a third yellow stripe to symbolize the country's Kurdish minority.
But the new national flag, presented Monday after an artistic competition sponsored by the Iraqi Governing Council, appears to have met with widespread public disapproval here -- in part because of its design and in part because of the increasing unpopularity of the U.S.-appointed council.
>>>To a large extent, however, public objections to the new flag seem to be intertwined with broader unhappiness with the 25-member Governing Council, which many Iraqis closely identify with U.S. interests.
Criticism of council members, and disputes among them, have sharply increased with the approach of the June 30 deadline for U.S. authorities to hand over power to a new interim government, which is to remain in office until elections are held early next year.
Some members have made it clear they want to be part of the new government. But both U.S. and U.N. officials here have suggested a clean sweep may be in order. "
I think it's dumb to make a new Iraqi flag now. It's going to be difficult to get the Iraqis to think of their new government as belonging to them, and flying a new "foreign" flag over their offices doesn't help matters. Maybe add some symbol to the existing one or something.
But the new national flag, presented Monday after an artistic competition sponsored by the Iraqi Governing Council, appears to have met with widespread public disapproval here -- in part because of its design and in part because of the increasing unpopularity of the U.S.-appointed council.
>>>To a large extent, however, public objections to the new flag seem to be intertwined with broader unhappiness with the 25-member Governing Council, which many Iraqis closely identify with U.S. interests.
Criticism of council members, and disputes among them, have sharply increased with the approach of the June 30 deadline for U.S. authorities to hand over power to a new interim government, which is to remain in office until elections are held early next year.
Some members have made it clear they want to be part of the new government. But both U.S. and U.N. officials here have suggested a clean sweep may be in order. "
I think it's dumb to make a new Iraqi flag now. It's going to be difficult to get the Iraqis to think of their new government as belonging to them, and flying a new "foreign" flag over their offices doesn't help matters. Maybe add some symbol to the existing one or something.
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