Regards, Ivan
Posted on 03/26/2003 6:40:05 PM PST by MadIvan
THE Iraqi opposition has formed a government-in-waiting to assume office in Baghdad in the wake of Saddam Hussein’s downfall.
A four-man leadership committee of prominent opposition figures – Ahmed Chalabi, Massoud Barzani, Jalal Talabani and Abul Aziz Hakim – has been named at the head of the Iraqi Interim Authority.
The body unites disparate elements of opposition to the Baghdad regime, from two Kurdish warlords with tens of thousands of peshmerga troops, a Shiite ayatollah who has been backed by Iran for 20 years and an expat banker.
The Interim Authority has formed a joint command that will oversee the military activities of the main militias in the opposition which have been placed at the disposal of a US marines general, based in Kurdistan to oversee a northern front. It has also named 14 new committees to take control of important ministries in Baghdad as soon as the allied military command turns over power to a civilian authority.
A list of names of prospective new ministers, some of whom are still inside Saddam-controlled Iraq, has been submitted to the White House and Pentagon, said Nabeel Musawi, a member of the joint command.
He added: “We don’t have a single credible leader in Iraq as one leader who will emerge and become a symbol for the whole country. But we need to add credible alternative faces. To gain the leadership, we have to stand for something.
“The first principle of the new set-up must be the de-Baathification of the central government. That is why we have named what is effectively a cabinet of 14 people, who are mostly technocrats, made up of people from inside and outside Iraq. The first priorities must be to make ministries in charge of areas like reconstruction, defence and health active immediately.”
Powerful Pentagon sponsors of Ahmed Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress, have promoted the Shia banker as the obvious candidate to replace Saddam Hussein. Opposition from the State Department has faded since the launch of military action, said Mr Musawi, Mr Chalabi’s deputy and spokesman. Still, he conceded that the White House has still not signed up to the opposition scheme for a quick transfer of power.
He said: “This has not been totally approved by the White House but to accept a military governor or a UN administration is not something acceptable to us. It is giving up Iraqi sovereignty.”
The Iraqi opposition has struggled to formulate an alternative to the appointment of a military governor in Baghdad. Britain has pressed the US to seek UN approval for any regime that replaces the current dictatorship.
For the Kurdish governments whose militia will make up the bulk of the 40,000 soldiers available to fight Saddam, the first task of the new authority is the military battle.
A statement from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan government said: “This committee will unify the Iraqi opposition forces with the military forces of the central government.”
Mr Chalabi’s lakeside headquarters in Dokan in Kurdish-controlled Iraq has something of the feel of a provincial hotel’s superior conference facilities. Georgetown graduates in V-neck cashmere sweaters discuss the prospects of the new administration in enthusiastic terms.
Aside from openly gaining American backing, the big challenge over the next few days will be to make the joint command work. It will be based in the village of Shawais and face the task of integrating fundamentalist Shia militia, like the Iran-backed Badr Brigade with the tribal peshmerga and Sunni Arab fighters drawn from the diaspora.
How well it accomplishes this task, working in parallel with the American command under Maj Gen Pete Osman in the same building, may become crucial to the task of wresting the northern oilfields from Saddam's grip.
The latest reports from inside Baghdad-controlled territory suggests that Saddam has replaced Republican Guard units with the feared Muhajideen-e-Halk, a murderous militia of Iranians that have been supported by the regime for a decade.
“These people are worse than even the Fedayeen because they have nothing to lose,” said Musawi. “They will be killed whatever happens, if not by the Americans then by us.”
Regards, Ivan
I think that epitaph would fit most associated with this regime.
“These people are worse than even the Fedayeen because they have nothing to lose,” said Musawi. “They will be killed whatever happens, if not by the Americans then by us.”
Now I think I have heard everything.
If the news about the new regime spreads along with the ever tightening grip of the coalition force around Baghdad, locals will begin to change side and actively help the coalition forces, providing vital intel or turning on the Saddadm's thugs. We should get the momentum toward the new regime going among local populations. We have to make them firmly believe that the tide is irreversibly turned.
As in Afghan, it will be locals' participation which will lead to the quick decisive collpase of the regime.
We're going to need a scorecard to follow this!
Chirac will just s**t!
"Prominent opposition figures" looks to be a euphemism for "target-rich environment".
He looks Jewish to me.
Who asked him? We don't need this sort of arrogance and ingratitude right from the "git-go". I think we should dump him and pick someone who hasn't already forgotten who's done all the heavy lifting. We don't need or deserve an Iraqi Charles DeGaulle.
I'll readily admit that I know less than I'd like to about the situation, but I'm eager to learn from an authority. Please, what in your opinion makes Mr. Chalabi the best qualified person to head the new Iraqi government, and what gives him standing to tell his liberators that an interim military government would not be acceptable? Don't feel that you need to spare specific details, I'm a patient man.
I do have a problem with Ahmed Chalabi's ambition and self-importance. Also have some concern about the Petra Bank matter and the questions over the accounting at INC. Wish I knew the truth about those issues, and I'd welcome informed opinions from anyone here. All I know is what I've seen in newspaper accounts, and I remember little of that.
I hope we don't too quickly hand over the reins to an ambitious "strongman" who's not popularly elected, and who decides he'd like to stay in office indefinitely. There are enough "presidents for life" in this world already.
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