Iraqi minister shot in Baghdad

[muriel_volestrangler]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/middle_east/3124838.stm

A member of Iraq's Governing Council, Aquila al-Hashimi, has been shot and seriously wounded in Baghdad.
One report, quoting an unnamed Iraqi official, says she was hit twice in the stomach, once in the shoulder and once in the leg outside her house in west Baghdad at about 0845 local time (0445 GMT).

She was taken to Baghdad's al-Yarmouk hospital surrounded by tight security. Her driver was also wounded in the attack.

A doctor at the hospital was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying that Ms al-Hashimi was in critical condition with abdominal wounds.

[Bozita]

1. It's a good thing the adults are back in charge.

But, who are they?

[punpirate]

2. So, the locals are now trying to kill...

... members of the Iraqi governing council who have been hand-picked by the US....

Message in that, perhaps? Something to do with free elections, perhaps?

Something to do with the Iraqis not welcoming "American-style" democracy... perhaps?

[sspiderjohn]

3. Good point

I'm sorry the lady is wounded, but let's face it, US appointed "councilors" in an IRAQI government carry the same legitimacy as Caligula's horse.

[lindashaw]

4. And we think the world is going to send its people into this mess?

[Junkdrawer]

5. Oh look, another Chalabi rival assasinated...must be those pesky....

Saddam Loyalists. Bad, bad Saddam Loyalists. :eyes:

[saigon68]

7. Sounds like a dispute in the 5 Familys

I guess Thug Chalabi is cocentrating his power by whacking his rivals

No doubt the "dead enders" will get the blame.

[MetaTrope]

6. France's woman on the Iraq Governing Council?

That message from France regarding a need for transition to Iraqi sovereignty came by way of Aquila al-Hashimi:
http://www.info-france-usa.org/news/briefing/us110903.asp

[pschoeb]

11. Also only member from Saddam's regime

Here's what she had to say in February before the war.

Senior Iraqi diplomat Akila Al Hashimi, speaking to reporters at the NAM Summit in Malaysia, February 21: "he defence of Iraq is now the defence of the civilized world... This war is just like a machine, and if it is not stopped with Iraq, the American machine of war will continue to rolling over Third World countries..."

http://www.acronym.org.uk/dd/dd70/70nr01.htm

She has a doctorate in French Literature, and was Tariq Aziz's French translator, so it's quite possible she has natural sympathies with France. She also has a long working relationship with the UN as a liaison officer , so also has sympathies in that direction.

Maybe she was chosen as part of an attempt to make the Council looked more balanced to other countries, and now she is an inconvenience to be gotten rid of(especially for Chalabi).

Here some more links
Meeting with the Council of Foriegn Relations
http://www.cfr.org/publication.php?id=6141

Article from the Boston Globe
http://www.religiousconsultation.org/News_Tracker/veiled_interests_of_Iraqi_women.htm

Patrick Schoeb

[alcuno]

8. What about her American security detail?

Oh yeah, looks like she didn't have one. What is up with that.

[Maeve]

9. One of only three women on the 25 member council

Ms Hashimi is a former diplomat who worked in the foreign ministry under Saddam Hussein. She holds a doctorate in French literature.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3062897.stm

[baldguy]

10. Just as an aside . . .

This is one of the US-trained Iraqi police. I'm sorry, but this guy looks like a clerk at Kwik-e-mart.

Don't police even get uniforms? Are the Iraqi people going to give this guy any respect after dealing with Saddam's Republican Guard for 20 yrs? The same neighborhoods this guy has to serve & protect is patrolled by US troops in full battle gear - and what does he get? A spiffy arm band!

[Barrett808]

12. The question of uniforms is important for the 8 who were shot by US troops

I assumed that were uniformed cops, I haven't seen any direct statement to that effect.

[reprobate]

17. That IS a uniform.

Look at the guy just to the left of him in the background. The iraqi cops ae wearing dark blue pants and light blue dress shirts. Seen this on tv coverage.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. Why the speculation on Chalabi?

I find this speculation interesting, but not very convincing. It reads like a Hollywood script.

This is much more likely what it appears to be: an act of resistance to colonial occupation by Iraqi patriots. It should surprise no one that members of the so-called governing council would be targeted, just as it should surprise no one that American troops are targets. This is a colonial occupation; the Iraqi people have a right to resist.

This is a war that pits the Iraqi people against PNAC colonialists. Perhaps Ms. Hashimi meant well; perhaps her reasons were less than honorable. It doesn't matter. For whatever reason, Ms. Hashimi chose to collaborate with the enemies of the Iraqi people. She probably will not be the last member of the governing council to pay such a price for making that decision.

If it is Iraqi resistance, then Chalabi, too, should watch his back.

[maxsolomon]

14. she's alive, so are the bodyguards.

2 NEW suv's launched an RPG attack, missed, opened up with ak-47s.

like i said when we went into afganistan; turn the place over to the women, the men have fucked it up royal.

yes, i am male.

[MetaTrope]

15. But then

How many other members of the governing council have spoken out against the U.S. occupation?

[pschoeb]

16. One reason to suspect, is this other story that ran today

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=124168

"The unelected council members, appointed in consultation with the coalition, have begun approving measures and publicly floating proposals without discussing them first with coalition leaders. Topics include ridding the government of many former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, remaking the nation's security forces, outlining the criteria for Iraqi citizenship and prodding Americans to hand over power more quickly."

Aquila was a Baath party member until April of this year, and the only Baath member on the council.


Patrick Schoeb