Post by bot on Jun 2, 2004 2:56:48 GMT -5
IRAQ MOVES AHEAD
www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/22100.htm
June 2, 2004 --
The awkward steps toward a free Iraq continued yesterday with the an nouncement of the team that is meant to make up an interim Iraqi government as of July 1.
In a weekend marked by awkward fits and starts, what President Bush termed a "new leadership drawn from a broad cross-section of Iraqis" emerged.
The 33-member Cabinet is regionally and ethnically balanced. Bush commended the work of U.N. envoy Lakdhar Brahimi in putting the cabinet together. In fact, Brahimi's involvement is the most worrisome question of the transition process.
The administration appears to have calculated that the price of a smooth transition is to allow the United Nations to appear to run the show. Time will tell whether this was wise.
The prime minister, Iyad Allawi, is a secular Shiite. He'll be an important U.S. ally in working to get a new U.N. Security Council resolution that should enhance international financial and security support for Iraq.
The new president will be Sunni Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawar, the president of the now-dissolved Iraqi Governing Council. He's been harshly critical of the American occupation and blamed lack of post-war planning for outbreaks of crime and violence throughout Iraq.
But Bush downplayed the chances for tension between the new Iraqi leadership and the United States, noting Prime Minister Allawi's words thanking America and other Coalition members for the sacrifices undertaken in bringing about a free Iraq.
With the formation of the interim government, the Governing Council formally disbanded. While the Coalition Provisional Authority remains in existence until the June 30 handover, the new Cabinet is already the official face of Iraq's government.
These developments are significant steps forward — but there can be no illusions that victory and peace are around the corner in Iraq.
There is little question that President Bush has the resolve to bring about, in his words, "a peaceful Iraq in the heart of the Middle East." The question has always been: Do the Iraqi and the American people?
www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/22100.htm
June 2, 2004 --
The awkward steps toward a free Iraq continued yesterday with the an nouncement of the team that is meant to make up an interim Iraqi government as of July 1.
In a weekend marked by awkward fits and starts, what President Bush termed a "new leadership drawn from a broad cross-section of Iraqis" emerged.
The 33-member Cabinet is regionally and ethnically balanced. Bush commended the work of U.N. envoy Lakdhar Brahimi in putting the cabinet together. In fact, Brahimi's involvement is the most worrisome question of the transition process.
The administration appears to have calculated that the price of a smooth transition is to allow the United Nations to appear to run the show. Time will tell whether this was wise.
The prime minister, Iyad Allawi, is a secular Shiite. He'll be an important U.S. ally in working to get a new U.N. Security Council resolution that should enhance international financial and security support for Iraq.
The new president will be Sunni Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawar, the president of the now-dissolved Iraqi Governing Council. He's been harshly critical of the American occupation and blamed lack of post-war planning for outbreaks of crime and violence throughout Iraq.
But Bush downplayed the chances for tension between the new Iraqi leadership and the United States, noting Prime Minister Allawi's words thanking America and other Coalition members for the sacrifices undertaken in bringing about a free Iraq.
With the formation of the interim government, the Governing Council formally disbanded. While the Coalition Provisional Authority remains in existence until the June 30 handover, the new Cabinet is already the official face of Iraq's government.
These developments are significant steps forward — but there can be no illusions that victory and peace are around the corner in Iraq.
There is little question that President Bush has the resolve to bring about, in his words, "a peaceful Iraq in the heart of the Middle East." The question has always been: Do the Iraqi and the American people?