Hey look, somebody slipped Chalabi in again

[KuroKensaki]

Anchor on MSNBC, talking about the State of the Union address: " will be making one more read-through before an 11 eastern meeting with the chairman of the Iraqi Governing Council, Ahmed Chalabi." Excuse me? Chairman? And how'd he get that, eh? Did some moistened bint lob a scimitar at him?

Guess what, people. Iraq is not going to become a democracy. All the members of the Governing Council -except- Chalabi are going to meet with 'accidents' caused by 'insurgents,' and Chalabi is going to become the next US-friendly dictator we support for a few decades. Mark my words, mark them well.

[PVnRT]

1. Chalabi is an idiot

I mean, let's face it, the CIA distrusts him. That's saying a lot.

[wtmusic]

2. A bit too transparent

The governing council will remain but will be ineffectual.

[Warpy]

5. Agreed

We knew Chalabi was the next anointed strongman when he was so gracious in supplying his thugs to be "cheering crowds" of a dozen or so whenever a Hussein statue was toppled.

Yes, there will be a governing council, succeeded by some form of parliament or congress. They will be weak and ineffectual, and there only to rubberstamp the will of the great man, Chalabi. Chalabi will keep the Shi'ites placated by clamping down on (who else?) women.

What remains to be seen is whether or not the Sunnis and Kurds will accept another dictator handpicked by the US. My guess is that this government won't last long, and will be followed by civil war. Iraqis will come to miss Hussein's horrific but orderly rule, and that is sad. We will end up with an enemy in the middle east with a very long memory.

Had the PNAC crowd not had such an incredible lust for war, this might have played out better for the west after Hussein's death, likely within a decade or so.

[On the Road]

3. I Think It's a Body with a Rotating Chairmanship

each member get a short turn. And Chalabi is on the council.

[KuroKensaki]

4. Chalabi

Yeah, I know he's on the council. I've just seen too damn much of this guy. He's the man who would be king, and our media is helping. Do you know how many times I've heard him introduced thusly: "President of the Iraqi National Congress, and also a member of the Governing Council". As if the first title were more important than the second.

And you have to admit, the first title sounds nice and important and official, except that the Iraqi National Congress is an organization of a few disgruntled Iraqi exiles that until recently was in the United States, not a governing body in Iraq! >.<

It's like Bush* putting 9/11 and Saddam close together all the time without really -saying- they were related. They're just getting us used to the sound of those words, used to hearing Chalabi's name whenever we hear about Iraqi official business. Eventually we'll be so used to hearing "President of the Iraqi National Congress" that we won't be surprised or alarmed to hear "President of Iraq".

Saddam Hussein also was President of Iraq.