Ah, it gets worse...and I'm not just talking about the Bad "Tommy" Cover After everybody was praising the UN Commissioner Brahimi, now everybody doesn't like him. First, as discussed last week, Sistani and the Shiite clergy do not like the interim Constitution nor the direction because they state it will create a divided Iraq. In other words, not give the more populous Shiites dominance. Now, the Iraqi National Congress, aka "Ahmad Chalabi's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (...hope you will enjoy the graft...), has come out and said they don't want anything to do with Brahimi either. There has been a great deal of discussion on other blogs from really knowledgable people, that I have blithely stolen and pirated, that there is a real possibility of a massive power play by Chalabi. Primarily this appears to be a case of motive, and, because the situation in Iraq is politically unstable and politically dangerous to the Bush Administration, opportunity. As the always suave and de-bone-er Juan Cole states: Al-Hayat reports that the Interim Governing Council (IGC) is rejecting any role for the United Nations in overseeing Iraqi elections save that of "help and consultation). Iraqi National Congress spokesman Intifadh Qanbar said that the UN delegation was told by the IGC that elections would have to be a purely Iraqi affair, that Iraqis would have to take the leading role in them, and that there would be no UN role in administering elections. He also said that no interference would be brooked from Iraq's neighbors. ... Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress has rejected charges that he had misused American funds, saying that such charges derived from the CIA and that they were false. Chalabi was supported by the CIA and the State Department around 1992 to 1996 or so, when they dropped him because he could not give an accounting of the millions of dollars they had given him to overthrow Saddam. He was then picked up by the Pentagon instead, and especially once the Bush administration came to power. The attempt by the INC to marginalize Brahimi and the United Nations reflects Chalabi's fear that he would not be able to win a fair, UN-supervised election. One fears he plans on vote-buying and other corrupt acts to be elected or appointed to a high Iraqi governing post, possibly as Prime Minister. Although the al-Hayat story says that the IGC wants to limit the UN role, if one looks carefully this move seems to be coming mainly from Chalabi and his people. Oh boy. Cue the Rhythm Guitar Mr. Townshend, Mr. Daltrey if you please... Overture Captain Ahmad didn't come home his Pentagon bosses didn't know him gave untold millions, plenty of men, don't expect to see them again... It's a ploy Mr. Rummy, it's a ploy It's a ploy Mr. Rummy, it's a ploy A Con, A Con, A Con