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UN Envoy Brahimi says "Bremer is the dictator of Iraq"
Agence France-Presse ^ | June 2, 2004

Posted on 06/02/2004 6:08:49 AM PDT by HAL9000

Bremer the 'dictator' of Iraq – UN envoy

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Wednesday responded to criticism of US involvement in the nomination of the new Iraqi government by stressing Washington was still the dominant force in the country.

"I would remind you the Americans are governing the country so their point of view was certainly taken into consideration," he said at a news conference.

"He has the money, ..the signature"

"I don't think he'd mind my saying this: Bremer is the dictator of Iraq. He has the money, he has the signature," said Brahimi after stressing he had been invited to choose the new cabinet at the request of the Americans and the now-disbanded Governing Council.

The final line-up was the product of haggling, notably between the US-led coalition and the council. The sides formed a working committee along with Brahimi to vet the list of contenders, the envoy said.

Representing the Governing Council in those talks were Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, Shiite and Communist party leader Hamid Majid Mussa and Sunni tribal sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar, the envoy said.

Yawar was tapped on Tuesday after a bruising competition with fellow Sunni leader Adnan Pachachi for the largely ceremonial role of the interim government's president.

"Ultimately you know that you have very, very complicated issues. What you have to do then is a compromise, with strengths and weaknesses. And the overall picture is positive .... very much positive," Brahimi said.

New executive not ideal

But he admitted that the new Iraqi executive unveiled on Tuesday was not ideal and stressed its members would have to work hard to earn legitimacy.

"None of us should forget that ultimately it is only an elected government that can legitimately claim to represent the people of Iraq," Brahimi said.

"Meanwhile the members of this government know and should not forget that they have not been elected.

"This government will therefore have its work cut out for it. It will not be easy for them to prove the sceptics wrong."

Prime minister Iyad Allawi's government will be tasked with bringing security back to the war-torn country and organising free elections next year.

"Nobody would expect the rich diversity of Iraq to be fully represented to the satisfaction of every ethnic group, every province, every religious group and every one of the several hundred political parties," Brahimi said.

Allawi had close ties with the US Central Intelligence Agency, and like many of his ministers, is a former exile with little popular support in Iraq.



TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: brahimi; bremer; cpa; un; unitednations
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1 posted on 06/02/2004 6:08:52 AM PDT by HAL9000
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To: HAL9000
"I don't think he'd mind my saying this: Bremer is the dictator of Iraq. He has the money, he has the signature," said Brahimi

Well, he ain’t wrong, though “dictator” has a lot of other negative implications that don’t apply.

2 posted on 06/02/2004 6:15:20 AM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: HAL9000
"But he admitted that the new Iraqi executive unveiled on Tuesday was not ideal and stressed its members would have to work hard to earn legitimacy."

I wish he would have taken just a moment to enlighten us and point to any given Government that he did consider to be "ideal." His statements are one gasbag cliche after another.

3 posted on 06/02/2004 6:18:41 AM PDT by Enterprise
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To: HAL9000
"Our leaders, Abu Annan and Braghimi, say that we don't need no stinking end of slavery, genocide, rape and terror.
Just send money to Kofi's own son, Tojo Annan and Brahimi directly.
Now why don't all you dhimmis just give up and surrender,
like the spineless and cowardly French and Spanish already have."


THE ANNAN FAMILY's WAR FOR OIL - the U.N. Oil company hired Kofi Annan's son, Tojo, who profited from Saddam's treachery and murder."

4 posted on 06/02/2004 6:19:35 AM PDT by Diogenesis (We do what we are meant to do)
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To: HAL9000
In post war Germany and Japan the first government was very much in the mold of what the Britain, France, and the United States wanted. Over the next few years as a real political process was established we quickly exited from their political process.

The United States of America is the only major power whom as a victor in war has deliberately set about to give democracy to its former enemy.

UN Envoy Brahimi says, "Bremer is the dictator of Iraq"
UN ENVOY BRAHIMI CAN KISS MY BUTT.
5 posted on 06/02/2004 6:21:36 AM PDT by cpdiii (Oil Field Trash, Geologist, Pharmacist (REFUSE TO ATTEND A GUNFIGHT WITH A CAL. LESS THAN FORTY))
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To: HAL9000; dead

Not a very judicial nor diplomatic choice of words.


6 posted on 06/02/2004 6:22:04 AM PDT by DoctorMichael (The Fourth Estate is a Fifth Column!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
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To: DoctorMichael

His daughter, the former CNN employee, is about to marry into Jordan's royal family. Between that and Brahimi's ties to the UN, I wouldn't trust this guy any more than I would Chalabi.


7 posted on 06/02/2004 6:25:46 AM PDT by mewzilla
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To: HAL9000

Thanks a lot, Lakhdar! Poor choice of words.


8 posted on 06/02/2004 6:26:35 AM PDT by Unam Sanctam
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To: HAL9000
I hate UN very much!
9 posted on 06/02/2004 6:35:48 AM PDT by F14 Pilot (John ''Fedayeen" sKerry - the Mullahs' regime candidate)
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To: Enterprise
"His statements are one gasbag cliche after another.

His statements are one huge bit of PROPAGANDA!

10 posted on 06/02/2004 6:37:15 AM PDT by yoe
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To: dead

Bremmer's got a tough job, and more power to him. All the power he needs to help get the job done.

When this is over, and Bremmer's had a good long vacation, what role will the Administration have for him; or if that's not in his future, what state is Bremmer from?


11 posted on 06/02/2004 6:51:46 AM PDT by cloud8
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To: cloud8

I would not put money on Bremer's being a Republican.


12 posted on 06/02/2004 6:58:39 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security)
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To: dead
Well, he ain’t wrong, though “dictator” has a lot of other negative implications that don’t apply.

Dictators do not have to answer to anyone and typically are not appointed to their positions. Bremer was appointed to his current position, and has to answer both to the President, and elected official, and the Congress, a body of elected officials. I think it is entirely a false statement and shows that this UN envoy is a mile wide and a millimeter thick.

13 posted on 06/02/2004 7:04:04 AM PDT by Tennessean4Bush (An optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds, a pessimist fears this is true.)
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To: mewzilla

Brahimi a few months ago also called Israel "the greatest poison in the middle east."

He is a POS.


14 posted on 06/02/2004 7:08:25 AM PDT by adam_az (Call your State Republican Party office and VOLUNTEER!!!!)
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To: dead

Brahimi is being a jerk; he knows full well that Bremer is not anything like a "dictator" even if for the time being he was extraordinary powers. He could be fired by Bush, and in any event his power will end in less than a month.


15 posted on 06/02/2004 7:44:07 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: dead

Brahimi is being a jerk; he knows full well that Bremer is not anything like a "dictator" even if for the time being he was extraordinary powers. He could be fired by Bush, and in any event his power will end in less than a month.


16 posted on 06/02/2004 7:44:39 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: MEG33
"I would not put money on Bremer's being a Republican."

Sorry I misspelled the name. If he isn't a Republican, he's worked for a few, and I think he has served his country well.

Here's from Wikipedia: (Was he taking his MBA from Harvard when W was?) "Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Bremer was educated at Phillips Academy and at Yale University (earning a B.A. in 1963) and went on to earn a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University in 1967. That year he joined the Foreign Service as Officer General in Kabul, Afghanistan, later continuing his education at the Institute d'Etudes Politiques of the University of Paris, where he earned a Certificate of Political Studies (CEP). He was also assigned in Blantyre, Malawi as Economic and Commercial Officer from 1968 to 1971.

During the 1970s Bremer held various domestic posts with the State Department, including posts as assistant to Henry Kissinger from 1972-76. He was Deputy Chief of Mission in Oslo from 1976-79, returning stateside to take a post of Deputy Executive Secretary of State where he remained from 1979-81. In 1981 he became Executive Secretary and Special Assistant to Alexander Haig.

Ronald Reagan appointed Bremer as Ambassador to the Netherlands in 1983 and Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism in 1986...."
17 posted on 06/02/2004 8:05:39 AM PDT by cloud8
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To: Steve_Seattle

If you can't hit the biggest guy..hit the nearest guy?


18 posted on 06/02/2004 8:31:22 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security)
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To: cloud8

Thank you for the info...!


19 posted on 06/02/2004 8:37:07 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security)
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To: HAL9000

Brahimi is the sole reason al Sadr is still alive, and will undoubtedly give another speech on Friday calling for violence against Americans.

If its Friday, Its Meet Sadr.


20 posted on 06/02/2004 8:40:47 AM PDT by Badeye
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