Robert Waldmann observes that a U.N. bureaucrat is now in control of the shape of Iraq's future government:
robert's random thoughts: I'd say that the Bush administration is finally more desperate than stubborn. Yesterday, President Bush more or less said that he on June 30 he will transfer Iraqi sovereignty to whomever is chosen by Lakhdar Brahimi.Posted by DeLong at April 15, 2004 12:32 PM | TrackBack | | Other weblogs commenting on this postQ ... Mr. President, who will you be handing the Iraqi government over to on June 30th?
THE PRESIDENT: We will find that out soon. That's what Mr. Brahimi is doing; he's figuring out the nature of the entity we'll be handing sovereignty over.
Today, Brahimi said that he thinks that the IGC should be replaced by "a prime minister, a president and two vice presidents." To be "chosen by the United Nations, the current Governing Council, the coalition and a select group of Iraqi judges, according to the U.N. spokesman's office in New York." Might not be what the President had in mind, but "L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, welcomed Brahimi's recommendations."
I sure hope it works out.
So my guess as to who is chosen by (list above which really means Brahimi, Sistani, and the Bush administration ): Abdul Aziz Al Hakim gets president of prime minister (whichever he prefers), Adnan Pachachi gets to be prime minister or president for being a Sunni moslem. Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talebani have to decide which is a vice president, one hopes without bloodshed. a Fourth Shi'ite completes the team ( Mohammed Bahr al-Ulloum or Ibrahim al-Jaafari). Pachachi might have blown it by appearing on al Arabiya (or was it Al Jazeera reports vary)...
"
Will that band of worthies be able to tell the U.S. embassy(with John Negroponte roosting within) to stay out of the sovereign affairs of Iraq after July 1?
Posted by: lefty redux on April 15, 2004 01:17 PMHeh. Will they want to? After all, if they publicly claim sovreignty too effectively, their ability to blame the US for whatever goes wrong will be somewhat limited.
Posted by: Steven Rogers on April 15, 2004 02:03 PMBeg to differ.
Chalabi will have to get something, otherwise how will Halliburton, etc. rip the Iraqi people off?
Posted by: Matthew Saroff on April 15, 2004 02:36 PMWe all know that Bush will do just about anything to get re-elected but to resort to reasonableness? Who whudda thunk.
Posted by: Dubblblind on April 15, 2004 02:48 PMYeah. What's going to happen to Chalabi now is a very interesting question.
Posted by: Brad DeLong on April 15, 2004 05:29 PMBy delaying, Bush has handed authority not to the UN Security Council, an intergovernmental body where the US government has a huge say and a veto, but to the UN Secretary General, the epitome of the cosmpolitan international bureaucracy thar Republicans hate.
Posted by: James on April 16, 2004 01:18 AMAny new Iraqi government will quickly establish diplomatic relations with other Mideast states, Jordan among them. So perhaps Chalabi's fate will be extradition and trial.
Posted by: K Harris on April 16, 2004 03:56 AMhe's already had his trial, now he faces slammer time.
Posted by: big al on April 16, 2004 08:36 AMupdate
It's official http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17524-2004Apr16.html
and
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/16/politics/16DIPL.html
"Some American officials say that they expect Ahmad Chalabi, an exile favored by the Pentagon, could be marginalized as a result of the new plan. Aides to Mr. Brahimi make no secret of the envoy's disdain for Mr. Chalabi."
But slammer time ? Naah I guess a corner office at the AEI or, if they balk, the Carlyle group (wee above -- they are willing to offer a job to almost anyone with the right connections)
Posted by: Robert Waldmann on April 16, 2004 04:03 PMOnline Casino Directory
Posted by: online casinos on June 23, 2004 04:45 AMOmnium rerum principia parva sunt - Everything has a small beginning. (Cicero)
Nec possum tecum vivere, nec sine te - I am able to live / I can live neither with you, nor without you. (Martial)
Ars sine scienta nihil est - Art without science is nothing (I would also claim that the opposite is true.)
Possunt quia posse videntur - They can because they think they can
Quad nesciunt eos non interficiet - What they don't know won't kill them
Ab/Ex uno disce omnes - From one person, learn all people
In posterum - Till the next day
Any new Iraqi government will quickly establish diplomatic relations with other Mideast states, Jordan among them. So perhaps Chalabi's fate will be extradition and trial.
Posted by: lose weight on July 29, 2004 11:51 PMVice versa - In reverse