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| Iraq |
| U.S. Plans 2-Year Full Unilateral Occupation of Iraq |
| 2003-02-22 |
| With troops deployment in the Gulf region jumping to more than 200,000 in preparation for war, the United States plans to take complete, unilateral control of Iraq after the post-Saddam Hussein era, reported a leading American newspaper on Saturday, February 22. In what seems to be a U-turn from the so-called democratization plans for Post-Saddam Iraq, an interim administration headed by a yet-to-be named American civilian would direct the reconstruction of Iraq and the creation of a "representative" Iraqi government, according to a now-finalized blueprint, reported The Washington Post. Doesn't sound like a U-turn from "so-called" democratization. Sounds more like trying to do it right. Democracy in Iraq requires training wheels. It's not something they've ever been able to do... Gen. Tommy Franks, the head of the U.S. Central Command, is to maintain military control as long as U.S. troops are there, said the paper. Once security was established and alleged weapons of mass destruction were located and disabled, a U.S. administrator would run the civilian government and direct reconstruction and humanitarian aid. 20 to 25 Iraqis would assist U.S. authorities in a U.S.-appointed "consultative council," with no governing responsibility. That's about what I'd do, if I were writing the plan. Can't leave the Ba'ath in charge, and there's nobody else to put in charge yet. Things still need to be run. Under a decision finalized last week, Iraqi government officials would be subjected to "de-Baathification," a reference to Hussein's ruling Baath Party, under a program that borrows from the "de-Nazification" program established in Germany after World War II, said The Washington Post. Criteria by which officials would be designated as too tainted to keep their jobs are still being worked on, although they would likely be based more on complicity with the alleged human rights and weapons abuses of the Iraqi regime than corruption, it quoted officials as saying. I doubt anybody wants to keep the kleptocrats around. They just want to get the killers first. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Might not be much to steal in the first few months. |
| Posted by: Tom Roberts 2003-02-22 10:34:42 |