White House Sends Official to Baghdad

[Barrett808]

WASHINGTON - The White House has sent a senior White House official to Baghdad to help form an interim government — action that's needed before sovereignty can be transferred to the Iraqi people by June 30, just three and a half months away.

The official, whose name was not released because of security reasons, was sent partly to resolve problems some Shiite members of the Iraqi Governing Council have with the interim constitution the council signed on Monday, a senior administration official said. The White House official sent to Iraq also is charged with convincing the Iraqi Governing Council to let the United Nations help set up elections, which are scheduled to be held before the end of the year.

"We've made it clear that the U.N. has a vital role to play in Iraq," White House spokeswoman Erin Healy said Saturday.

The United States wants the United Nations to return to Iraq to help figure out how to form an interim government. The United Nations recalled its diplomatic staff after suicide bombings rocked its headquarters in Baghdad in August and October.

Earlier this week, an influential Shiite cleric suggested that parts of the interim constitution encroached on the powers of a future elected parliament. Some members of the governing council who belong to the majority Shiite group say they may propose changes or revisions to the interim document they just signed because they fear it means they'll eventually lose power under a new government.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040313/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq&cid=544&ncid=1480

[peterh]

1. Probably James Baker….

He appears to have taken on Harvey Keitel’s roll as the “fixer”….

[suegeo]

2. heh heh

Yeah, I think it was the movie with that younger Fonda actress. Except I think technically, he was called "The Cleaner"

Someone would screw up a job, he'd go in, make everything right, and then shoot the person responsible for the screw up.

I doubt Jim is gonna kill the people responsible for the screw up this time tho. Since some of this shit goes back to him, and his days as sec. of state.

[htuttle]

3. You mean Victor. The Cleaner.

Baker has disposed of a few bodies in his time, no doubt about that.

I've always thought of James Baker more like a cross between Victor from La Femme Nikita, and Tommy Hagan from The Godfather.

[bemildred]

4. Point of No Return

Bridget Fonda 1993.
Who could forget.

[peterh]

5. Actually…I was thinking of Wolf (the fixer)…

Pulp Fiction…:shrug:

[Cooley Hurd]

6. Hi Barrett808!

Although your post is the earliest, I'm going to lock it because it doesn't have the actual title of the linked story in the subject line.

Please continue the discussion here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x420371

Thanks! :hi: