In the last week, I had the opportunity to attend two presidential candidate events as (blogger) press. What was most revealing were the press packets prepared by the organizing bodies. I wasn't aware that, in addition to the agenda and promotional materials one might expect, it now seems customary to provide a "story," ready to print, covering the events that haven't yet happened.

Clearly, the organizers of the Iraqi summit that was held in Helsinki in early September failed to provide such a hand-out to describe what was achieved. How else to explain that the Helsinki Agreement has been virtually ignored in the major U.S. media?

Kudos to Brandon Friedman for suggesting there might be more to the story of the drop in Iraqi deaths in recent weeks and to the link in the comments to his diary to the Helsinki Agreement itself:

Helsinki Agreement

Representatives of Iraqi parties and blocs held discussions in Finland from August 31 through September 3, 2007 and agreed to consult further on the following recommendations to start negotiations to reach national reconciliation:

1.To resolve all political issues through non-violence and democracy.

2.To prohibit the use of arms for all armed groups during the process of negotiations.

3.To form an independent commission approved by all parties, its task being to supervise the process of disarmament of non-governmental armed groups in a verifiable manner.

4.All parties will commit to accept the results of the negotiations and no party can be subject to a threat of force form any groups that reject all or part of any agreement reached.

5.To work to end international and regional interference in internal Iraqi affairs.

6.To commit to protect human rights.

7.To assure the independence and efficiency of the legal and justice systems, especially the constitutional court.

8.To ensure the full participation of all Iraqi parties and blocs in the political process and agreed governance arrangements.

9.To take all necessary steps to end all violence, killings, forced displacement and any further damage to infrastructure.

10.To establish an independent consultive body to explore ways to deal with the legacy of the past in a way that will unite the nation.

11.All Iraqi parties and blocs have to build Iraq and contribute efficiently to support all the efforts that would make the political process and Iraqi unity successful and to preserve its sovereignty.

12.All participating groups must commit to all of the principles listed here as a complete system of rules.

Political Objectives:

1- To be rational in political speeches, for the national interest, and to move away from sectarian and ethnic dispute.

2- To bring an end to the displacement of Iraqi people and work to take care of those displaced, and secure their safe return, with guarantees of their safety by the national forces in co-operation with political parties and tribal leaders.

3- To deal with the subject of militias under the following procedures:

A- Arming, supplying, training and making sure that the security forces (army/police) are capable of undertaking their duties efficiently. Make sure that the security forces are equipped to adequate levels to achieve an effective national force.

B- Activation of economic development across the country, to contain youth unemployment and use the efforts of young people to rebuild in order to improve the quality of life for all citizens.

C- Those working outside the law and using military resources inappropriately shall be brought to justice, with no differentiation.

4- The emphasis on the common vision for all Iraqi political entities on the importance of termination of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq through the completion of national sovereignty and rebuilding a national army and security apparatus according to a national vision within a realistic timetable.

5- An emphasis on the continuation of constructive dialogue between different political groups aiming to fulfill national goals.

6- To convince political groups that are currently outside the political process to initiate and activate a constructive dialogue to reach common understandings.

7- To deal with armed groups which are not classified as terrorist, encouraging them to use peaceful political means to address the conflict and to provide their members with jobs and opportunities within state administrations.

8- Working towards correcting the misunderstanding that accompanied the political process and encourage all Iraqi political parties to participate in building Iraq in all aspects.

9- The cessation of the violation of the human rights of Iraqi citizens and their properties by continuous bombardment and military actions by foreign forces. The Iraqi government must take responsibility to protect innocent civilians.

END

Since the consensus building event was modeled on the achievements in Norther Ireland, coverage in the Sinn Fein Weekly was properly enthusiastic:

Iraq : Helsinki agreement provides hope for the future

McGuinness in Iraqi peace negotiations

Six County Deputy First Minister and Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator, Martin McGuinness was a leading facilitator for several days of discussions between leading representatives of Iraqi political parties and others linked to a range of groups close to the conflict, it emerged this week.

The discussions chaired by Martin McGuinness and former South African government minister Roelf Meyer, took place in a secret location in Finland last week. A condition of the discussions was that there would be no representatives of those involved in the current military occupation of Iraq. The participants included representatives of Shia and Sunni groups.

Participants committed themselves to work towards a robust framework for a lasting settlement. Those present agreed to a set of recommendations to start negotiations to reach national reconciliation.

Perhaps the take in the Chinese press provides a clue as to why the agreement isn't being greeted with huahs in America:

Iraq talks see U.S. forces as impediment to peace

www.chinaview.cn 2007-09-06 03:50:03
HELSINKI, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- The representatives from Iraq's Shiite and Sunni groups who held four-day talks in Finland last weekend pointed out that U.S. forces are an impediment to achieving peace in Iraq, Finnish daily "Helsingin Sanomat" reported on Wednesday.

The gathering was arranged by the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) of former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, and by the John W. McCormack Institution of the University of Massachusetts, which was represented in the talks by Professor Padraig O'Malley.

The Iraqi delegates taking part in the talks agreed on the need to get American forces out of the country as quickly as possible and they have set a "realistic timetable" for the withdrawal, Padraig O'Malley told "Helsingin Sanomat."

According to Padraig O'Malley, who took part in the talks, all parties said that the earlier the occupation ends, the better.

The final Political Objective reference to continuous bombardment and military actions by foreign forces seems most telling, since that's a topic the U.S. press seems proscribed from covering.

Continuous bombardment! Surely they exaggerate! Who would do such a thing?