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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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10 April 2003

BRIEFING:PART TWO: ‘Post-Saddam Iraq – The Pentagon’s far-right poised to take over’

Listed in the first briefing are key figures in America’s impending post-Saddam government. All shown to be advocates of US unilateral domination through absolute military superiority and implacably pro-Israeli stances, the following figures are in the same vein.

Zalmay Khalilzad

Khalilzad is straight from the US Defence department, where he was close to Dick Cheney, current US vice-president . Appointed by Bush as the National Security Council official in charge of the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, Khalilzad worked under Paul Wolfowitz during the Reagan era on the US State Department’s Policy Planning Council . A prominent figure driving US policy on Afghanistan and Bush’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Khalilzad’s appointment means oil. As a former adviser to UNOCAL, the US oil company behind the Trans-Afghan oil pipeline, Khalilzad was a key broker between US oil companies and the former Taliban regime .

Vehemently anti-Iranian , Khalilzad is a key theoretician behind what is called the ‘Bush doctrine’ , a unilateralist policy of US expansionism. In December 1997, Khalilzad and Wolfowitz publicly called for a \”regime change\” in Iraq, outlining a ‘six point plan’ to topple Saddam Hussein. This was endorsed by the then Israeli government and pro-war hawks in the then Clinton administration. Affiliated to the pro-Israeli Washington Institute for Near East Affairs, Khalilzad has consistently called for special US security pacts with Israel for the latter’s protection, along with resolute action against ‘non-compliant’ Arab states .

Barbara Bodine

Former US ambassador to Yemen, Bodine will be responsible for governing the predominately Sunni centre of Iraq . Bodine is a classic right-wing stalwart and her work record is a right-wing who’s who. Under former US president Ronald Reagan, Bodine served as Deputy Principle Officer in Baghdad and under George Bush Snr as Deputy Chief of Mission in Kuwait. She also worked for the notorious former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, indicted for crimes against humanity in Vietnam and Chile .

Harbouring pro-Israeli instincts, as US ambassador to Yemen, Bodine was quoted as saying \’\’The United States and Yemen recognize that normalization -with Israel- will be a part of a comprehensive peace agreement\’ \’. Bodine comes with a controversial reputation. As US ambassador to Yemen she clashed with former FBI director of counterterrorism over the investigation of the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen and was widely regarded to have deliberately impeded its investigation .

Robin Raphel

Former US ambassador to Tunisia, Raphel is designated to run Iraq’s Ministry of Trade . A former CIA analyst, Raphel worked on the US State Department’s Israel desk . Whilst US ambassador to Tunisia, Raphel was a keen supporter of Tunisian Prime Minister, Ben Ali, notorious for his repressive policies towards Tunisia’s domestic political opposition, especially its Islamist elements. Raphel also called for greater relations between Israel and Tunisia . As U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Raphel cemented US relations with the Taliban regime and was considered to be the face of the UNOCAL’s Trans-Afghan oil pipeline .

Other figures to run Iraq:

Lt. Gen. John Abizaid – personally selected by Rumsfeld, Abizaid is currently second deputy commander of U.S. Central Command. An American of Lebanese-Christian descent, Abizaid is dubbed by colleagues as the ‘Mad Arab’ .

Timothy Carney, former US ambassador to Sudan. Personally invited by Wolfowitz to head Iraq’s Ministry of Industry.

Retired US general Bruce Moore, to run the predominantly Kurdish northern Iraq

Retired US general Buck Walters to run the predominantly Shia southern Iraq

Andrew Natsios – administrator of US government department, US Agency for International Development Former vice-president of fundamentalist Christian charity ‘World Vision’ .

Robert Reilly, former head of ‘Voice of America’, the US government’s propaganda radio service. Held to be a partisan of Wolfowitz.

Ryan Crocker, current Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and former US ambassador to Syria and Lebanon, as well as US Charge d\’affaires to Afghanistan . Favourite to be ambassador to the post-Saddam Iraqi government.

For more information please contact:

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