Reply #19: And lest we forget, "convicted bank swindler Ahmad Chalabi..."

[onager]

...installing a group of Iraqi exiles in an interim government until elections could be held.

People who had to do the grunt work in Iraq are still pissed about that great idea. You can hear quite a few of them, military and civilian, speaking out in the great documentary No End In Sight/ (NEIS).

Among those folks, there's a general feeling that the CPA was INTENTIONALLY made as weak as possible. The plan was that the CPA would then be forced to turn to the Iraqi exiles for their "knowledge and expertise."

Then, eventually, the CPA would give up and "install" the exiles, especially Smilin' Ahmad Chalabi.

You know, install--the same word you use when putting a new toilet in your bathroom.

The people trying to get Iraq back on its feet were amazed that they couldn't get even the most basic data to do their jobs from the State Department or the Pentagon. Stuff like, "How many people are in the Iraqi Army, anyhow?" The answer was always: "Oh, check with Ahmad" (or somebody similar).

In NEIS, one retired military officer said he constantly asked for help, since he was running a one-man show. Eventually, his bosses in DC sent him a young woman who did not speak Arabic, had never been outside the USA, and had no discernible job skills. The officer acidly comments that she got her job because "Daddy made a big contribution to the GOP."

The CPA put her in charge of designing a new traffic control system for Baghdad.

:rofl: