Under The Same Sun: Who chose this man?

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May 28, 2004

Who chose this man?

So, the Iraqi Governing Council which was hand-picked by the U.S. decides to hand-pick Iyad Allawi for the post of prime minister of the transitional "fully sovereign" government. Bremer attended the session of the GC that picked Allawi and congratulated him.

Chief U.N. spokesperson, Fred Eckhard, says that the U.N. is surprised but "respects" the choice but "it's not how we expected it to happen." Eckhard also said that, "In the end, it's the Governing Council and the (U.S.-led coalition) that will make the decision."

"Mr. Brahimi respects the decision and is prepared to work with this person on the selection of the other posts in this interim government," Eckhard told reporters, adding that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) also respected the choice and the word "respects" had been "a carefully chosen word."
"I assume this choice will hold, but the process isn't over yet," he said. "Let wait to see what the Iraqi street has to say about this name."

Powell, on the other hand denies that they chose Allawi and says they are waiting to hear from Brahimi:

Asked if he could confirm Allawi would be the new prime minister, Powell told reporters, "We have no position on any candidate at this moment because we are waiting to hear from Ambassador Brahimi and he needs time to complete his work."

Meanwhile, senior U.S. officials in Baghdad were apparently concerned that the Governing Council, which is supposed to have picked him, would learn of "their" pick through the media:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The momentum for a vote by the Iraqi Governing Council on the newly designated prime minister came about in the last 24 hours after it became clear that Iyad Allawi enjoyed a "strong groundswell" of support, a senior U.S. official in Baghdad said.
Officials also feared his name would be leaked to the news media -- that the council might learn the selection "from CNN," said the official, who was intricately familiar with the process.

An earlier story from Reuters quotes a senior Bush administration official in Baghdad as confirming the choice:

"He will be the prime minister when the interim government is set up in the next two or three days," the official told reporters in a conference telephone call. "We thought he would be an excellent prime minister. ... I think that this is going to work."

George Bush, on the other hand, continued to publicly insist that it was Brahimi who was picking the interim government:

In a joint appearance with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who sent some 500 soldiers to help US efforts in Iraq, Bush later made clear that his guest had pushed for giving the interim Iraqi government full powers.
"I told the prime minister that our government and our coalition will transfer full sovereignty, complete and full sovereignty to an Iraqi government" picked by special UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the president said.

The White House heaped praise on Allawi. White House spokeperson Scott McLellan said, "He is certainly a fine and capable leader who appears to have broad support among the Iraqi people," and we all know that the White House is the best source for learning who the people in Iraq support.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the street interviews with the pesky natives seemed to be a bit lackluster about this broad support they are supposed to be showing:

But Iraqis in central Baghdad said they knew little about the man with long-time links to the CIA....
"I heard he used to play sports. I think he should really go back to playing sports," said Seif Gharib, a 20-year-old security guard at Iraq's Ministry of Defense. "Who is Iyad Allawi?

Hassan Ali, a policeman, was also dismissive.

"I reject him," he said. "Where was he when we suffered under Saddam? Besides I do not recognize the Governing Council."

Links to CIA? Hand-picked by the body hand-picked by Bremer who was hand-picked by Bush? Current bogeyman Chalabi's blood relative? No political support within the country? Responsible for the infamous "WMDs operational within 45 minutes" claim?

No, no, no. Here's the correct description of the process, coming from the same official who was worried that the choice would leak prematurely to the Governing Council:

"It is a historic moment," this official said. "This has been a process of full-blown democratic politics."

Posted by zeynep at May 28, 2004 09:14 PM

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May 28, 2004

Who chose this man?

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