[Marxism] Et tu, Chalabi?

[Andy Coates <esquincle@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/27/international/middleeast/27IRAQ.html?pagewanted=print&position=

November 27, 2003
U.S. Plan in Iraq to Shift Control Hits Major Snag
By JOEL BRINKLEY and IAN FISHER

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 26 -- The American plan to turn over power in Iraq more
quickly was thrown into disarray on Wednesday when the country's most powerful
cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made public his opposition to a proposal
for indirect elections.

"All of us are groping around right now," an administration official said in
Washington, acknowledging that the plan worked out earlier this month by the
Iraqi Governing Council and L. Paul Bremer III, the American administrator of
Iraq, would have to be revised.

Spokesmen for Ayatollah Sistani, who exercises strong influence over Iraq's
majority Shiites, said he insisted that the election, planned for June, be a
direct ballot and not the caucus-style vote called for in the American plan. He
also insists that the new Iraqi government have a more overtly Islamic 
character.

"The people should have a basic role in issues concerning the destiny of their
country," Abdul Aziz al- Hakim, a Shiite cleric and politician, said in an
interview. Mr. Hakim said he discussed the American proposal with Ayatollah
Sistani on Tuesday.

...
[second to last paragraphs]

The view that the United States elections play a major role in shaping Iraq's
political future is widely held among council members.

Ahmad Chalabi, another council member, said: "The whole thing was set up so
President Bush could come to the airport in October for a ceremony to
congratulate the new Iraqi government. When you work backwards from that, you
understand the dates the Americans were insisting on." American officials deny
that electoral concerns played a role in their planning.