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Dubya giving up on democracy in Iraq?
"The Bush administration has chosen L. Paul Bremer, a former head of the State Department's counterterrorism office, to become civilian administrator in Iraq and oversee the country's transition to democratic rule. I'm very nervous that State guy is being put in charge. Bremer's selection, disclosed Wednesday by a senior U.S. official, will put him in charge of a transition team that includes retired Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner and Zalmay Khalilzad, the special White House envoy in the Persian Gulf region. So Bremer will outrank, Garner, the ex-officer, who has been criticized for being too close to Israel, to close to Rummy, and too close to Chalabi and the INC. Bremer left the State Department, where he was an assistant to former secretaries William P. Rogers and Henry Kissinger, to join Kissinger Associates, a consulting firm studded with both Democrats and Republicans that held top U.S. government posts. Kissinger Associates, now there's a place to go and learn how to build democracy. This resume makes it look very much like we've got another "realist" who will put power politics above democracy, will want to make nice with the House of Ibn Saud, and will want to put a loyal strong man in place in Baghdad (like the Iraqi ex-officers beloved of the CIA, supported by tribal sheiks with records of cutting deals with Saddam). Currently, Bremer serves as chairman and chief executive of Marsh Crisis Consulting company. Overseeing the transition from rule by Saddam Hussein to Iraqi opponents of the deposed president is a tricky assignment made trickier when you dont know what your goal is in which the Bush administration is playing an aggressive role while also declaring it is up to a wide diversity of Iraqi groups to choose a new government. The opposition groups have held two meetings at the second meeting all except a CIA backed INA guy supported INC in wanting to go hard after ex-Baathists and after a third one so does this mean Bremer gets to push Garner out of the third one? are expected to begin the process of transition at a conference of all contending forces. The real contending forces are State, CIA and DoD - the Iraqis have a much better chance of working things out together than those 3 institutions Secretary of State Colin Powell assured Congress this week that while the United States was playing a major role in Baghdad it seeks to turn over control of the country to the right Iraqis as soon as possible. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, meanwhile, has warned that the Bush administration would not permit an Iran-style Muslim fundamentalist government take charge in Baghdad. Like, we won this war, we want a democracy, most Iraqis want democracy, why let State or anyone else blow this one - the way Colin and his pals blew the last victory over Iraq? For his part, Powell has said there is no reason to rule out a government rooted in the Muslim religion, citing Turkey and Pakistan as examples of democracies coexisting with the religion. Flabbergasting! One that he should equate Turkey with Pakistan! Two, that he suggests that we went to war in Iraq to create another Perv, and a state with the relationship to Islamism (not just Islam) that we find in Pakistan. Seems Colin is so afraid of the INC, and the traction its picked up in the last 2 meetings in Iraq, that he is willing to go with an Islamist regime to keep the neocons out of power. The French dont need to worry about unipolar world - there are two powers that have forces around the world, and that hate each other bitterly. Each is far stronger than France. One power is the Pentagon, the other is the State/CIA alliance. This is downright scary, and I hope the blogs, etc will pick up on this. Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-05-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=13719 |