Thinking about Chalabi

As much as we've used the man who has a checkered background at best, and considering his recent comments that it didn't matter if the intelligence he passed us about WMD were true or not because it did the job of getting us there to get rid of Hussein, one might wonder why we keep that man afloat in Iraq.

It occurs to me at this moment that BushCo needs someone there to swing things to look favorable for Bush at least until after the November elections. If I were Chalabi, I wouldn't feel too comfortable after that.

Heavily contested evidence exists that Ronald Reagan made a deal with Iran to hold the hostages until after the election in order to keep Carter from getting the kudos for negotiating their release. Politics at its worst. I don't think BushCo would be setting any precedent for manipulating events to get a favorable election outcome, regardless of the lives involved. And it certainly wouldn't be the only incidence of doing so in their own term to date. As a matter of fact, retaining the seat of power seems to be more than just their modus operendi, it's their raison d'etre.

The Iraqi Governing Council today approved an interim constitution that recognizes the influence of Islam on the country and sets a quota for the inclusion of female representatives in a future government.... The 25-member council reached a consensus on the document at about 4:20 a.m. Iraq time, said the official, who spoke by telephone from Baghdad on condition of anonymity. The leaders missed a Saturday deadline for agreement on the constitution after wrangling over the extent to which Islam should influence Iraqi lawmaking, the number of women who should be legislators, and Kurdish demands for autonomy in the country's north. There was "full agreement" on "each article" of the constitution, the Associated Press cited Entifadh Qanbar, a spokesman for Shiite Muslim council member Ahmad Chalabi, as saying.

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There are three women on the 25-member council. Not a big voice. About par with the U.S. cabinet.

I guess Iraqi women should be glad they even allowed them any spaces, huh? Hey, like they always tell the groundskeepers on the campus, "Shut up your complaining and be glad you've got a job. If you don't like what we're telling you, there's a line of people waiting for your position."

The council postponed a decision on Kurdish autonomy after failing to reach agreement on the terms and size of a region ruled by Kurds in the north, AP reported.

So, I guess there wasn't actually "full agreement" on "each article". And I guess we decided we didn't have to wait for that embroglio to be sorted out. Let's take it one step at a time. First things first. Let's get Georgie reSelected. Then we can deal with any civil war getting in the way of the oil flow from Iraq.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.