Doug Lorimer
A top US official in Baghdad, who asked not to be named, has admitted to reporters at a dinner meeting on March 21 that the planned June 30 hand-over of "sovereignty" from the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to an "interim Iraqi government" will be a purely cosmetic exercise.
According to a March 21 Associated Press report, the official indicated that after June 30 "most power will reside within the world's largest US embassy, backed by 110,000 US troops" and that the interim Iraqi government will do little more than draw up a budget for 2005 and prepare for elections scheduled for no later than January 31 next year.
"The US ambassador will hoard a large measure of influence on Iraq, and the fledgling government will wean itself only slowly from American money, troops and advisers... The American face in Iraq will undergo only a symbolic change, with the ambassador installed in a new chancery building but US affairs still handled in Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace", AP reported.
Hussein's former Republican Palace is currently the headquarters of the CPA, headed by US ambassador Paul Bremer.
AP also reported that Bremer is "in the midst of appointing inspectors general for Iraq's ministries that, under current rules, can't be replaced by an incoming Iraqi government".
On June 30, the CPA will formally dissolve and the US government personnel working for the CPA will be reassigned to the US embassy, which will have 4000 staff members.
The March 21 Los Angeles Times reported that after June 30 "Iraq's ministries, now guided by US and British advisers" would continue to be directed by these "advisers". It reported that "those advisers would probably remain, said a State Department official, but operate in the background".
Meanwhile, US military engineers are "focussing on constructing 14 'enduring bases', long-term encampments for the thousands of American troops expected to serve in Iraq for at least two years", the March 23 Chicago Tribune reported. "As the United States scales back its military presence in Saudi Arabia, Iraq provides an option for an administration eager to maintain a robust military presence in the Middle East...
"The number of US military personnel in Iraq, between 105,000 and 110,000, is expected to remain unchanged through 2006, according to military planners."
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, March 31, 2004.
Visit the