| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq-Jordan |
| Baath water to be fully tossed? |
| 2004-06-02 |
| EFL... Sorry âbout the excessive title. WASHINGTONâThe new Iraqi prime minister is committed to civilian control over the military and will not reconstitute the Iraqi Baath party defeated last April by coalition forces, according to Iraqâs leading human rights activist, Kanan Makiya. Mr. Makiya told The New York Sun yesterday said he had received assurances in a three-hour meeting last month from Iyad Allawi that he would not take steps to allow senior Baathists into the new government, an important pledge given Mr. Allawiâs background as the leader of the Wifaq, a collection of former Baathist officials who fell out of favor with Saddam Hussein. Thatâs good news, if true (it was a month ago). Mr. Allawi told reporters at a ceremony unveiling his new government that he believed American soldiers would be a necessary partner in bringing stability and security to his country. âWe will need the participation of the multinational forces to help in defeating the enemies of Iraq. We will enter into alliances with our allies to accomplish that,â he said. I suspect thatâs why he was picked. After prevailing over the wishes of Mr. Brahimi and the White House over the appointment of the largely ceremonial presidency, the IGC dissolved itself, a full month ahead of when the new regime is expected to take power. In the coming month, the new government is expected to convene a large caucus to choose an interim legislative branch. So who issues the silly proclamations this month? The new interim government will be headed by Mr. Allawi, along with tribal chief Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer as president; the leader of the Shiite Muslim Dawa party, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, as one vice president; and the deputy of the Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani, Rowsch Shaways, as the other vice president. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistanâs chief administrator, Barham Salih, accepted, after initially rejecting, the post of deputy prime minister for National Security. And now for the testimonials... The vice president of the American Enterprise Institute for foreign and defense police studies, Danielle Pletka, said she âalmost fell out of my chair,â when she heard the head of the interim government would be Mr. Allawi. âI thought the U.N. and the U.S. wanted a technocrat with credibility in Iraq and we got a fixer whose best friends are in Langley, Va., not Baghdad, Iraq.â Ouch. A former CIA operations officer who worked in Iraq, Robert Baer, told the Sun yesterday that Mr.Allawi was ânot an agent of anyone.â Mr.Baer said, âHe is in the same category of Chalabi, heâs an exile who wanted to go back.â He added that Mr. Allawi âhad a more pragmatic vision for Iraqâ than Mr. Chalabi, who wanted to foment a popular, democratic uprising against Saddam. Mr. Allawi, according to Mr. Baer, âwould have been happy to reconstitute the army and create a military government in Iraq.â Happier than working towards free government? Letâs hope not. Mr. Makiya said he believed the interim government would be competent. âI think it is very good government. It has good and capable people. I am very glad the governing council has played a role in shaping it and I am glad the United States chose to go down that road instead of working behind the scenes through (chief administrator) L. Paul Bremer.â |
| Posted by:someone |
| #5 Thanks #4. I misunderstood Allawi's intent. I thought Allawi meant that OUR military would be under the control of Iraqi government officials. That nonsensical idea surfaced last week. If I'm not mistaken, Tony Blair agreed with Iraqi officials that coalition troops would come under Iraqi control after elections. Then he quickly back peddled when Colin Powell protested. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-06-02 11:13:11 PM |
| #4 The new Iraqi prime minister is committed to civilian control over the military ... That can't be good for us or am I missing something? Civilian control over the military is the American way, since the Declaration of Independence ("he (king George) has rendered the military independent of, and superior to, the civil authorities....") |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-06-02 1:39:22 PM |
| #3 To add to liberalhawk - This seems a natural progression. The Ba'ath party was simply the embodiment of the personae of Saddahm (dug out of a hole-awaiting trial) and his demon seed (now room temperature). It had no philosophy. So it is, of course, no longer needed. Wifaq, the people who fell out of favor with ol' "lice-bait", if they have reasonably clean human rights records could present themselves an a sort of centrist technocratic group. They could say that they are able to run the new bureaucracy in partnership with others, and based on experience. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-06-02 11:44:20 AM |
| #2 The new Iraqi prime minister is committed to civilian control over the military ... That can't be good for us or am I missing something? |
| Posted by: rex 2004-06-02 11:43:31 AM |
| #1 note well - Makiya was also a member of Chalabis Iraqi National Congress, but unlike Chalabi, was less a wheeler dealer and more a very serious academic - Makiya taught at (yes) Brandeis University, and wrote "Republic of Fear", and is now working on a project to document Saddams atrocities. If Allawi is good enough on debaathification for Makiya, hes good enough for me. Pletka (of the neo con friendly AEI) seems to be playing the DC game of neocons vs CIA. Interesting to see Darlings take on it, as he used to be very anti-Chalabi, but now works at AEI. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-06-02 10:14:59 AM |