Who's in Charge?!: CPA Official Contradicts Washington on Shahristani?

[BurtWorm]

:wtf:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iraq-shahristani.html

Iraq's Shahristani Reluctant on PM Role
By REUTERS

Published: May 26, 2004


Filed at 2:35 p.m. ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A nuclear scientist who had been tipped to become Iraq's interim prime minister hinted on Wednesday he might reluctantly take the post, but an official in the coalition authority ruled him out of the job.

Confusion surrounded who would take the role after the official contradicted earlier comments by U.S. sources in Washington that Hussain al-Shahristani would be the prime minister.


Shahristani, who was jailed and tortured at Abu Ghraib prison under Saddam Hussein, said the process of choosing a prime minister was not yet complete and other candidates were being considered.

...

Contradicting reports from U.S. sources in Washington on Tuesday that Shahristani would head the new government, a senior official in the U.S.-led coalition authority told Reuters in Baghdad he would not be chosen as prime minister.

[frank frankly]

1. my dumb local paper ran the triumphant headline :NEW IRAQ PM CHOSEN!

whOooOoopS!

[BurtWorm]

3. I think that's the impression Washington wanted us to have

They were dying for a happy ending. Now they look (once again) like idiots who have no clue about what their people in Iraq are doing.

[cestmoi]

4. Better now rely on it for any terror updates.

[cestmoi]

2. "until now he's been most conspicuous for his criticisms oo the US"

Do you wonder if his being very critical of the US might be a reason why he might not be accepted?

According to Financial Times
"Mr Shahristani, 62, has until now been most conspicuous for his criticisms of the US. Less than three weeks after the invasion last year, he voiced complaints about the behaviour of US forces in an interview with the Financial Times.

The Americans, he said, "have committed some very serious mistakes".

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullS...

[BurtWorm]

5. It's possible.

It's also possible that the CPA knew he didn't really want the job. It seems like another case of the "silly dreamers" (aka neocons) in Washington trying to wish their dreams into reality.

[pinto]

6. thks for resurfacing this..perfect example of our rudderless, inter agency

maneuvering, deadly quagmire called foreign policy. Iraq has been downsized from a "crusade for the Mid East" (which was patently disconnected from any sense of reality) to a game of tug-of-war between State and the DOD.....

[lapfog_1]

7. He would have to have a death wish to want this job.

this will be a thankless job with no real power, and he will
have a big fat target on his back... no thanks.