Most of the main names associated with the PNAC turn up in this article about the control and rebuilding of Iraq– James Woolsey, Donald Rumsfeld, the Likud Party, Ahmad Chalabi, and more. It speaks of a struggle between two main camps about how things will go — the U.S. way or the internationally-approved way.
The fight yet to come
Another struggle is gripping Washington - the one that will shape the future of Iraq. Bush’s inner circle is fighting to gain his ear, and the result of this contest will have an impact even greater than that of the war
Ed Vulliamy in New York and Kamal Ahmed in London
Sunday April 6, 2003
The Observer
At Hillsborough Castle near Belfast tomorrow, President George W Bush will sit down with Tony Blair to discuss phases two and three of the conflict in Iraq. With confidence growing that the military campaign is coming to a conclusion, all eyes are refocusing on the political aftermath. If the coalition of the willing thought the military campaign was difficult to plan for, the opportunity for elephant traps ahead is growing.
Already there is talk of splits and tensions. The US Defence Department, under Donald Rumsfeld, would like an American-dominated interim administration. Colin Powell and his staff at the State Department realise that a broad coalition of international interests and the United Nations will need to be involved. Condoleezza Rice, Bush’s National Security Adviser who speaks daily to Tony Blair’s foreign policy chief, Sir David Manning, has also promoted a ‘UN-endorsed’ route allied to ultimate American leadership. Each is playing a game of cat and mouse, a feint here, a jab there, to try to ensure that their scheme comes out on top.
…
Chalabi is backed by friends in the Pentagon to head the formation of a provisional government. But he is suspected by the State Department and CIA, which believe that he has little chance of rallying support in Iraq after nearly half a century in exile. The CIA severed its relationship with Chalabi after the INC was unable to account for millions of dollars in covert US aid.
As a result, Chalabi is currently slated for a position on an advisory council of exiles, with which he has declared himself dissatisfied. However, Pentagon sources tell The Observer that his position is ‘under review; he may yet play a very important and senior role’.
A leading role for the INC would dovetail with information from sources telling The Observer that the list of Iraqi exiles to be invited into government is being drawn up by the number three at the Pentagon, Douglas Feith, working directly to his immediate superior and longtime friend, Wolfowitz.
Feith is a pivotal member of the neo-conservative group, having worked with fellow-hawk Richard Perle on a paper for the Israeli Likud Party in 1996, urging a ‘clean break’ with the peace process.
‘It looks like we are on the verge of further alienating allies,’ said one State Department official, ‘and it looks like we are going to do exactly what we promised we would not - take small groups of exiles with limited influence in Iraq and bring them in as the bulk of a transition government.’
RSS Feed
Please Leave a Comment!