was filtering through the foreign press months ago.
Not to mention how all the departments are packed with American shills...
And the fact that the old Governing Council members managed to get into the new interim government....and the 100O strong assembly meeting in July was appointed by a committee which included....Chalabi!
1//The Daily Star, Lebanon Friday, June 25, 2004
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=5600IRAQI’S GOVERNING COUNCIL GRANTS ITSELF NEW LEADERSHIP ROLE
Most members gain seats of power in new government
By Annia Ciezadlo
Special to The Daily Star
BAGHDAD: When the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council dissolved itself on June 1 - a month ahead of schedule - it seemed like it was all over for a body that Iraqis widely viewed as too close to the United States.
The future seemed especially dim for Ahmed Chalabi, whose office was raided only days earlier by US and Iraqi security forces investigating charges of kidnapping, corruption and robbery.
But even as the council's members gave up their seats, they were writing themselves a leading role in the interim government that takes power next week. In a little-noticed edict, the defunct council guaranteed itself seats on Iraq's Interim National Council, a 100-member assembly that will have power to approve the 2005 budget, veto executive orders with a two-thirds majority, and appoint replacements to the presidency.
The former council also guaranteed itself seats on a headspinning array of committees that will select other members of the new body.
"Essentially, the Iraqi Governing Council seems to have granted itself life after death," said Nathan Brown, a professor of political science at George Washington University in Washington.
As political players jockey for positions in the government, the selection process is being dominated by members of the former Governing Council - much to the chagrin of Iraqis who had hoped for a more homegrown leadership to emerge.
SNIP
In July, a national conference of about 1,000 people will meet. Modeled on Afghanistan's Loya Jirga, the conference will include people from all walks of life - tribal chiefs, women's groups, youth organizations, writers, poets and artists - who will choose the Interim National Council.
However, the conference is being planned by yet another body, the Supreme Commission. This commission, which will decide who attends the July conference, was supposed to include a broad range of people, including those chosen by UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to represent Iraqis outside the former Governing Council.
But the Supreme Commission has been dominated by former Governing Council members from the start: It was selected by a five-member committee, now disbanded, consisting of four former Governing Council members, including Chalabi, and chaired by the deputy of Jalal Talabani, another former council member.
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