On Brahimi, Powell, and corruption of regime

As details emerge from the recent Iraqi Governing Council coup d'etat, we are learning a lot about the balance of power in Iraq, but still missing some vital pieces. Chief among these - Chalabi's continuing role is assured. He remains in possession of all of Saddam's intelligence files on everybody. His family remains in charge of giving out billions of dollars in reconstruction contracts, and controls the upcoming show trial of Saddam. Make no mistake about it - Chalabi isn't going to quietly fade away, sleazeball or no.

We now have the outline of how it went down:

There was never any intent on the part of the US to give Brahimi a free hand in finding the best answer. The US vetoed Brahimi.

As the only entity in Iraq with even a pretense of political authority, the IGC forced the US to a compromise where they remain firmly in control as the provisional governement, in exchange for the US getting one of their people into the inner circle of power.

All that remained was for Sistani to go along with the fait accompli. Being a pragmatic person, Sistani has reluctantly done so, for now.

Most poignant is Brahimi's continued participation in a process that sidelined him long ago, leaving him essentially an American handpuppet in the acceptance of a CIA-sponsored Gucci exile as Prime Minister. In this respect, Brahimi looks increasingly like Colin Powell - a basically decent person with a sense of loyalty that overrides his morality. Sad. What is it about the Bush regency that causes this kind of corruption?

Update 06/03/04: At least Brahimi, unlike Powell, is willing to speak truth about the underlying forces in play. History will judge if his willingness to be a tool in this corrupt process was ultimately the right thing to do.