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Postwar Iraq plan includes diverse groupsExiles would not dominate administration
From John King
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The postwar, post-Saddam Interim Iraqi Authority envisioned by the White House would include a mix of Iraqi dissidents and exiles, Kurds and other ethnic groups from within Iraq, senior administration officials told CNN. The officials said at no point would Iraq be solely administered by exiled Iraqis, who have been angling for postwar power. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice planned to offer a sketch of the administration's planning at a Friday briefing. The issue will be at the center of talks next week between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Rice planned to make clear that while the Iraqi National Congress led by Ahmed Chalabi would have a role in postwar Iraq, it would be just one of many groups involved, one senior official said. 'There will be no President Chalabi'"There will be no President Chalabi," said one U.S. official familiar with President Bush's thinking on the issue. "And it is time he understands that." That frustration stems from steps by Chalabi to form what he calls a provisional postwar government made up of exiles, despite advice from the Bush administration not to do so. Chalabi has strong support for a leading postwar role from Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and many conservatives in Congress. But he left Iraq in the 1950s, and many at the State Department and elsewhere in the administration question his claims to have deep support in Iraq. And they are concerned he would try to limit the influence of indigenous Iraqis that Bush and others view as critical to building legitimacy for the new Iraq authority. "It is too early to say who most of these people from within Iraq are going to be," said one official involved in the planning. "But it is not too early to say we believe they are critical to showing that the new government of Iraq is truly representative of the people of Iraq." In the immediate days after the shooting stops, the United States plans to rush into Iraq a new civil administration composed of Americans and headed by retired Gen. Jay Garner that would report to the chief of the U.S. Central Command in the region, Gen. Tommy Franks. U.S. experts set to take immediate controlGarner's team would include an array of current and retired U.S. officials and experts. State Department and USAID workers, for example, are poised to quickly try to improve the flow of humanitarian aid. Justice Department workers are poised to help with security and legal reforms. Treasury Department officials have a task force working on plans to revitalize the Iraqi economy and stabilize Iraq's currency. Experts from the Army Corps of Engineers, other agencies and private contractors are set to repair roads and bridges, water supply systems and oil and other commercial facilities. The U.S. plans call for a "rolling start" to get the Interim Iraqi Authority running. Government agencies dealing with agriculture and transportation, for example, could be brought back on line under Iraqi control rather quickly, most U.S. officials believe. In part that is because the country has a sophisticated civil service system and in part because such services are not as "political" and therefore not as infiltrated with senior Baath party leaders and Saddam Hussein associates. As for the role of the United Nations, U.S. officials said much still was to be determined. But they said there was no question the administration views the U.N. as critical to the humanitarian efforts -- and wants the Security Council to endorse the Interim Iraqi Authority as the legitimate government of postwar Iraq. Many European leaders want a more broad and more authoritative role for the United Nations as soon as possible, but the Bush administration is resisting that.
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