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| Iraq |
| Dubya giving up on democracy in Iraq? |
| 2003-05-01 |
| "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 |
| #6 The only possible positive spin I see on this, and it's hinted at in the otherwise depressing Newsweek article, is that this might mean we're keeping the training wheels on for rather longer instead of dumping the country into local hands and running off. But I'm not pleased. Wonder if Bush will reaffirm his commitment to a free Iraqi government tonight. |
| Posted by: someone 2003-05-01 15:12:01 |
| #5 update from AP "Zaab Sethna, a senior adviser to Chalabi, said the United States has been sending mixed signals about the new government. But he said America had made clear the former exile and Kurdish groups — which he referred to as the Iraqi opposition leadership — would be the core. "The United States has said they'd like to see the Iraqi opposition leadership to be expanded as a nucleus for the provisional government. The Iraqi opposition agrees with that," he said. Asked about reported distrust of Chalabi among some American officials, Sethna said: "The United States is not a monolith. There are different departments of the U.S. government who say different things to different audiences." |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-05-01 14:50:00 |
| #4 well now TGA, if a EUROPEAN government were to come out in favor of the more democratic forces in Iraq, and were to ally with Wolfowitz in the internal politics of the administration, that would pull the rug out from under Powell's feet on this. Don't expect it to happen though. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-05-01 14:39:09 |
| #3 Pakistan? You toppled Saddam to create a second Pakistan? I start to like Rumsfeld now and that's saying something. No you don't want a "government rooted in the Muslim religion". Sharia anyone??? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-05-01 14:26:47 |
| #2 I too am very concerned. Some of the smarter war opponents (eg Josh Marshall) opposed the war in part because they thought Bush lacked either the will or vision to follow through to democracy. Until today I was optimistic that the Wolfowitz faction was winning. Now I dont think so. I hope there is enough innate good sense in the Iraqi people to prevent things getting too bad. If Dubya blows this, he hands a beautiful issue to any hawkish Democrat (Lieberman, Edwards or Gephardt) in 2004. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-05-01 14:23:20 |
| #1 Almost all my post-Iraq fears distilled into a single post. Brrrr! |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2003-05-01 12:58:35 |