HA!... Somewhere in the sludge of cable news I heard one of the many many Republicans, reading from the Faxed Republican TPs, say today that Brahimi is 'an Algerian, what does he know of representative democracy".
The Chalabi and Neocon forces have had fun for weeks saying sometimes amazingly vicious petty and personal things, so reminiscent of the campaigns against Blix. Who the hell are we.
Really and truly we are about to drown in hubris.
Thanks to ABC (iirc, tho it may have been CBS, I heard both tonight) there was a clip of Brahimi that receives further exposure in this Knight Ridder article.
Continued below...
Brahimi: Bremer the 'dictator of Iraq' in forming government
By TOM LASSETER
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Lakhdar Brahimi, wrapping up his U.N. mission to bring an interim government to Iraq, looked a little tired and disheartened Wednesday as he said the compromise he negotiated was the best possible under American control.
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Asked how big a role the American administration had in forming the government and selecting the prime minister and president, Brahimi reminded reporters that American Ambassador L. Paul Bremer runs things in Iraq.
"Bremer is the dictator of Iraq," he said. "He has the money. He has the signature."
He later added: "I will not say who was my first choice, and who was not my first choice ... I will remind you that the Americans are governing this country."
Sadoun al Dulame, the head of a Baghdad research organization and polling center, said he spoke with Brahimi last week and that the diplomat was discouraged.
"He was very disappointed, very frustrated," al Dulame said. "I asked him why he didn't say that publicly (and) he said, `I am the U.N. envoy to Iraq, how can I admit to failure?'"
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It was a daunting stage for diplomacy, even for Brahimi, a former minister for foreign affairs of Algeria whose diplomatic career stretches back to his days as a National Liberation Front representative in 1956, during Algeria's struggle for independence.
Brahimi spent a lot of his time in Iraq listening to Iraqis from all walks of life and pieced together an expansive, nuanced picture of the nation and its needs. He concluded that immediate elections wouldn't work.
He then went to the table with U.S. administrators and the nation's interim Governing Council for weeks of negotiations that involved sharp dissent, political jockeying and leaks to the press.
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Reflecting on it all, Brahimi said it was "a sometimes extremely difficult negotiation process" and added, "You in the press had a field day."
After he finished speaking, he walked off from the podium, alone. A U.N. banner was tacked on the wall behind him, waiting to be taken down and replaced by the Americans in time for the next news conference.