Rift Opens Between U.S., Chalabi on Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is locked in a deepening dispute with the leader of Iraqâs American-installed interim government, Ahmad Chalabi, over a timetable for self rule - still another complication for U.S. efforts to rebuild the country. Administration officials thus far have rebuffed an appeal by Chalabi, the president of the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, for the United States to relinquish control to Iraqis sooner rather than later.
Chabbers, are you nutz? Quickest way to become irrelevant with GWB and Rummy is to sound the least bit French.
The plan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a Senate hearing on Wednesday, is to turn Iraq back over to its people under a seven-point plan "through a constitution and elections and then passing of sovereignty at a pace as rapidly as is reasonable." In other words, the administration doesnât intend to turn over the reins of power to an unelected council - even if it created the council.
Oh my gosh, Chabbers, Rummy believes in democracy! Better get your re-calculator out, youâre going to need it.
But Chalabi, a longtime ally of conservatives at the Pentagon and in Congress, and several other Iraqi leaders who also owe their posts to the United States are expected to make their case directly to Capitol Hill.
Heâs nutz -- nothing could make GWB cut him off quicker than that.
Chalabi on Wednesday denied there was a rift between the council and Washington. "We have no disagreement with the United States government," he told a news conference at the United Nations. "We are not at odds with the U.S. We are working to achieve the common objectives."
And Chirac says heâs a friend.
The delegation of Iraqi officials attending this weekâs U.N. General Assembly session will head to the nationâs capital next to meet with House and Senate members. Their aim: more autonomy for the council and at least partial control immediately of the finance and security ministries. They plan to argue that turning over power soon could save American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
How? Oil is going to flow when itâs ready regardless of who runs the Treasury.
L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, says the process must be an orderly one. "The only path to full Iraqi sovereignty is through a written constitution, ratified and followed by free, democratic elections," he told a congressional hearing.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a longtime supporter of Chalabi, said the leader has been one to push against U.S. policy but not one to undermine it. "Thatâs been the way heâs operated in the past," said Brownback, who plans to meet with Chalabi next week. He said heâll listen carefully to Chalabiâs appeal. But Brownback said it would be a serious mistake to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq too quickly.
"I gots my limits, Chabby, and youâre pushing them!"
Chalabi listened Tuesday as President Bush suggested that Iraqi self-government should not be rushed and more nations should share the peacekeeping burden. The process should be "neither hurried nor delayed by the wishes of other parties," Bush said in a slap primarily at France and Germany, which want a quick turnover of control, and an expanded role for the United Nations. Chalabi and his colleagues want to hasten the day when the United States relinquishes control - but donât want to see an expanded U.N. role or additional foreign troops.
Kurt Campbell, a former top Pentagon official who now works at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the rift is the latest manifestation of an internal feud between the Pentagon and the State Department. Powerful elements in the Pentagon would like to see Chalabi given more power and basically agree with his recent statements, while the State Department continues to favor a more deliberative process that brings in other nations, Campbell said. "What we have to avoid is a debacle and the quickest way to do that is to get as many people involved as possible," Campbell said.
Ivo Daalder, a Brookings Institution analyst and co-author of a book on Bushâs foreign policy, said the split is putting the administration in an embarrassing position. The Iraqi authorities are "not legitimate because we installed them," Daalder said. "And so we now have a problem of going against the people we put in power, saying they canât be trusted."
Who said anything about the Council? Itâs Chabbers who is the problem.
Support for Chalabi in Iraq is mixed. He has many critics opposed to anyone ruling Iraq who has spent most of his life abroad. Chalabi, 58, left Iraq as a teenager. Chalabi is president for September. The council presidency rotates among nine members.
Enjoy your swan song, Chabby!
Posted by: Steve White 2003-09-25 |