Article: DEPENDENT DESTINIES\ IRAQIS WILL VOTE ON A DRAFT CONSTITUTION SATURDAY, A VOTE THAT IS CRUCIAL FOR BOTH IRAQ AND THE UNITED STATES. BUT THE TRANSITION TO DEMOCRATIC RULE, AND THE CONCEPTS INVOLVED, HASN'T BEEN EASY, AS AMERICAN TROOPS ON THE LINE HAVE FOUND OUT.(News)

Byline: Noam N. Levey Los Angeles Times

BAQUBAH, Iraq -- Thirty-five miles north of Baghdad, on a dusty U.S. Army base outside this provincial capital, the officer and the sheik are debating free speech.

Sheik Hanesh Musawi, a robed city councilman from nearby Khan Bani Saad, has come to complain about a recent pro-Saddam Hussein demonstration. ``I told my people that the Americans would not allow this,'' Musawi says as he sits down with Lt. Col. Oscar J. Hall IV in a spare concrete room on the base.

Hall, a former college football player who commands a tank battalion from Fort Riley, Kan., listens patiently. ``We can stop all the gatherings,'' ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!