No representative government in future Iraq
- From: "muslim-news.net" <muslim_affairs@xxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2003 09:36:45 +0100
Leading Democrat on the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee Delaware
Senator Joe Biden warned America that the Bush administration's post-war
Iraq scenario is "a prescription for disaster."
On ABC's This Week, Biden criticized the current Bush administration
plan to install Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader Ahmad Chalabi as an
influential player in a future Iraq. Reports have circulated indicating
that the Pentagon may have promised Chalabi the role of Prime Minister
in a future Iraq.
"The word was that Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress would be 60
percent or so [of a future Iraqi government] and they would pick the
remaining 40 percent," Biden warned sternly.
For his part, Chalabi yesterday alarmed Iraqi opposition forces in and
outside Iraq when he told MSNBC that he believed the U.S. Army should
remain longer than proscribed and continue to maintain a strong military
presence in Iraqi cities.
The worry among the Iraqi community and some U.S. senators is that any
government led by Chalabi will appear to be a puppet regime and not
representative of the Iraqi people. Chalabi's INC has received a $97
million aid package from Washington and maintains strong commercial ties
with U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense
Paul Wolfowitz, and other power-brokers, including the powerful oil
lobby.
Other Iraqi opposition groups, namely the Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), have refused U.S. influence and support,
although they are heavily supported by Iran's Shiite ruling clergy.
On Monday, Chalabi told MSNBC that he is not a candidate for any
official position in Iraq and his role ends with the liberation of Iraq.
However, a day earlier, Chalabi announced that he would immediately
reverse Iraq's oil nationalization policies and mete out all contracts
to U.S. and U.K. firms.
The two statements have worried many in the Iraqi community who believe
that Chalabi is lying about not seeking an official position and will
operate as a de facto proxy "middle-man" for U.S. and U.K. strategic oil
interests.
It is of particular note to mention that Cheney was former CEO of
Halliburton, which is thought to be positioning itself (or through
third-party affiliates) to rebuild Iraq's ailing oil infrastructure.
U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice also maintains strong
ties with the Texas-based Chevron oil company, which has named a super
tanker, The Condoleezza, in her honor.
There have also been allegations that the INC is supported by the AIPAC,
a dominant pro-Israeli lobby in Washington. According to Ha'aretz writer
Nathan Guttman, "[Head of the Washington office of the Iraqi National
Congress] Intifad Qanbar's invitation to the conference reflects a first
attempt to disclose the links between the American Jewish community and
the Iraqi opposition, after years in which the two sides have taken
pains to conceal them."
Ultimately, Qanbar did not attend the conference and was replaced with
another Iraqi opposition figure, Kana Makiya, author of The Republic of
Fear.
The presence of an Iraqi opposition member at an AIPAC meeting will
surely produce adverse reactions throughout the Middle East and likely
incense accusations that the invasion of Iraq was to consolidate
Israel's security and ensure vital oil interests.
With powerful oil conglomerates vying for lucrative black goldmines in
Iraq, powerful oil interests entrenched in the White House, and
Chalabi's alleged role as a middle-man for the aforementioned, Iraqis
and some CIA officials are beginning to feel that the new government in
Iraq will be run by non-Iraqis -- Iraqis who have not been in Iraq in
decades and are out of touch with the Iraqi populace. Chalabi himself
has not been to Iraq proper in 45 years.
The CIA has come out opposed to the INC because of what it terms "faulty
intelligence claims." This writer has previously written about the
alleged document linking Iraq and Niger to illegal uranium shipments,
which turned out to be fabricated by an "unknown entity." Many in the
intelligence community believe that the sloppy fabrication may lead to
INC operatives.
The INC has also come under scrutiny, albeit silently, for providing
U.S. forces with erroneous information that their forces would be
"greeted with flowers and rice" in the opening days of the war.
The question of legitimate Iraqi representation, or lack thereof, is
also playing out in mainstream media.
Last Friday, Iraqis living in the U.S. and the U.K. met with President
George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, respectively, and expressed
their support for the current Anglo-American invasion of Iraq.
"We have to stop the atrocities that are going on even now," said one
woman on the White House lawn.
There are several inconsistencies and telling signs that dismiss the
legitimacy of these self-fashioned Iraqi groups who seem well versed in
waxing rhetorical about their "homeland" Iraq.
One thing that is particularly telling is the demeanor of one Iraqi
woman. She was asked about her impression after meeting with Bush and
hearing his commitment to "freeing" the people of Iraq.
She continuously made reference to Eye Rack, not Iraq, repeating over
and over "liberating Eye Rack," "freeing the Eye Rackie people." On and
on about Eye Rack. An Iraqi may be puzzled as to the exact meaning of
Eye Rack.
Calling Iraq Eye Rack is as demeaning and insulting as referring to
Qatar as Gutter. No Iraqi ever referred to this nation as Eye Rack.
Moreover, Iraqis find it abhorrent that Iraq is referred to in this way.
It makes them feel humiliated and low.
An Al Jazeera reporter asked the woman claiming to be an Iraqi from
Illinois a question in very clear Arabic. Before the revealing lenses of
world television she said, "I don't speak Arabic."
Granted, not all Iraqis are of Arab origin, but they all speak Arabic,
the official language of Iraq. The Kurds speak Arabic and Kurdish; so do
the Turkomen who speak in Turkomen (an offshoot of Turkish), the
Assyrians, who speak Aramaic (the language of the Bible), the Sabeans,
the Chaldeans (Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz is a Chaldean),
the Jews (who speak Hebrew and Aramaic) of Iraq.
They all speak Arabic.
CNN's Anchorwoman Judy Woodruff interviewed an Iraqi who had not been in
Iraq in 25 years. When asked if he was in touch with family in Iraq, he
said he not been able to contact them but that he was in touch with
"other sources and that all Iraqis were happy about the war and removal
of Saddam."
Iraqis may be happy about the removal of Saddam, but they are certainly
unhappy and enraged about the war and the toll on civilian life and
infrastructure.
Source: YellowTimes
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