Tuesday, February 01, 2005
So Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation claims to have in its possession a leaked document purporting that "the US-appointed government of Ayyad Allawi is bent on restoring Baath-style dictatorship in Iraq." I have never heard of this group before and do not vouch for the authenticity of this document, but decided the story was interesting enough to throw it out there; afterall, that's what blogs are for, right? Here's what IDAO says about the document in question:
Given the goals of the planners of the Iraq War the idea that the US would welcome another Iraqi dictatorship isn't really surprising. As Friedman wrote in the Times, "the best of all worlds" in Iraq as far as Washington is concerned would be "an iron-fisted Iraqi junta without Saddam Hussein".
According to an apparently genuine document, received by IDAO on Thursday, the US-appointed government of Ayyad Allawi is bent on restoring Baath-style dictatorship in Iraq.
Signed by General Taleb Al-Hamadani, 'overall coordinator for security matters' for Ayyad Allawi, and addressed to Allawi, he appears to comment on another discussion document circulated within the Ayyad Allawi government and suggesting full restoration of the Baath party in Iraq. While advocating caution to stem "international opposition" to such move, General Al-Hamadani nevertheless supports the return of leading Baathist to government and cites measures to ensure that "those belonging to other parties are excluded from military and security institutions", in effect advocating a dictatorship in Iraq. Click for a scanned copy of the document.
The US seems to sponsor such moves, see for example the IDAO article on the Salvador option, by which the US occupation authorities are happy to allow an election process that does not threaten their plans for Iraq but rather encourage it by providing legitimacy to the emergence of new dictatorship in Iraq on the model of other Arab states. Most indications are that the elections will be fixed to allow Ayyad Allawi, himself a leading Baathist in the past, to return to government, ensuring continued US hegemony on Iraq's oil and its politics.
When the 'elections' process is passed on Sunday without real change to the status quo, the focus will return for a time-table to end the occupation and the corruption it has brought with it, for security and real democracy to the Iraqi people. The extent to which those Iraqi forces interested in democracy and an end to the occupation, who certainly represent the majority of Iraqi people, can unit on a common program, will shape the future of Iraq and prevent dictatorship and the threat of civil war.
Given the goals of the planners of the Iraq War the idea that the US would welcome another Iraqi dictatorship isn't really surprising. As Friedman wrote in the Times, "the best of all worlds" in Iraq as far as Washington is concerned would be "an iron-fisted Iraqi junta without Saddam Hussein".
