I Did Not Want To Be a Collaborator" (Iraqi quits reconstuction council)

[Emillereid]

Isam al-Khafaji, a former member of the Iraqi reconstruction council, explains his decision to resign

Monday July 28, 2003 (The Guardian) On July 9, with deep sorrow, I submitted my resignation as a member of the Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council to US deputy secretary of defence Paul Wolfowitz. 
I did this with great sadness but, in doing so, I was able to leave Iraq with a clear conscience. If I had stayed any longer, I might not have been able to say that. I feared my role with the reconstruction council was sliding from what I had originally envisioned - working with allies in a democratic fashion - to collaborating with occupying forces. 

I had returned to Baghdad in May, a few weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein, with much hope after 25 years in exile from my country. It was one of the most difficult decisions of my life to accept the invitation of the US government to return with more than 140 other Iraqis as part of this council to help with the postwar reconstruction and rehabilitation of ministries so that Iraq could eventually be turned over to a transitional government. 


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4254.htm

I could have told them that the same military that destroyed the country wasn't going to be able to change into a reconstruction/peacemaking force after. Note how the Pentagon is really in charge, not the civilian authority. Also note that decisions have to be made in Washington -- that means our favorite fascists Cheney and Rumsfeld I bet.

[DUreader]

1. Heavy stuff

[Emillereid]

2. Moderators -- sorry I pasted four paragraphs of this article twice --

I have no idea how I did it, but I can't seem to edit it now.