Iraqi MPs approve partial cabinet (Chalabi gets oil!)

[muriel_volestrangler]

MPs in Iraq have approved a new government by a large majority despite failure to agree on several top posts.

Seven posts were left vacant, including oil and defence, but Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari promised that they would be filled very soon.
...
Prime Minister Jaafari will temporarily head the defence ministry while prominent Shia politician Ahmed Chalabi will act as oil minister.

Mr Chalabi, once a Pentagon favourite but who fell out with the US, will take one of the deputy prime minister's posts.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4492457.stm

AAAARRRRGGHHH!!!! :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Yeah, let's put a convicted fraudster in charge of Iraq's oil. After all, there's never been any opportunity for fraud in the Iraqi oil industry before ... :sarcasm:

[leftchick]

1. The US needs their stooge in charge

Not to worry. I don"t believe he will ever get the chance to "run" anything in Iraq.

[Capt_Nemo]

4. Whose stooge is he anyway?

Has he made up his mind between the US and Iran yet?

[leftchick]

5. whoever has the best price

I would imagine.

[Solly Mack]

2. In a Bush world, that makes sense of course

in a world where things like honor, integrity, and truth matter....well, we don't exactly live in that world....but wouldn't it be nice?

[CWebster]

3. There it is.

What else is there to say?

[Imagevision]

6. The new acting oil minister of Iraq will be Ahmad Chalabi

The new acting oil minister in Iraq will be Ahmad Chalabi, a Shiite once close to the Pentagon. He will also be one of four deputy prime ministers. The Interior Ministry, a key security position, went to a Shiite, Bayan Jabbor.
http://www.nytimes.com/

[librechik]

7. Mission Accomplished

And I swear the war wasn't about oil.

[clem_c_rock]

8. Oh Lordy - it just doesn't get any more obvious than this

Anyone want to make the case this isn't a Banana Republic.

If you think it isn't maybe it's time to visit you nearest recruiter.

[MADem]

9. How very....unsubtle.

I guess they had to give him something, else he would spill the beans. This tells me he knows not only where the bodies are buried, but he has polaroids of players with shovels!!!

Now he can skim off the cash that Saddam used to get!

[Barrett808]

17. He's just as likely to be an agent for Iran... n/t

[Charles19]

30. Chalabi is an agent for himself, he gladly takes the pentagon's

money and the Mulluh's advice though.

[wallwriter]

10. What about Ken Lay?

Maybe Ken Lay could be Iraqi Oil Minister

[AlCzervik]

11. Wow, i wonder when he's getting his medal of freedom?

[realFedUp]

12. Bet he names one rig Judith....nt

[tabasco]

13. How many people think this government will last one day ...

after the US military departs?

Freedom on the march. Chalabi as the oil minister.

Our troops die to prop up this stooge government.

[CWebster]

19. Yet we have to stay there so we can fix everything! nt

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tabasco]

26. No, this was the stooge government that the US installed.

The fact that Ahmed Chalabi is the oil minister should clue you in. He is despised by Iraqis as a criminal and traitor.

If this government is supported by the Iraqi people, why can't our troops come home? Why do these people have to stay inside the green zone for protection? If this government has been chosen by the Iraqi people, why can't those elected walk down the streets of Baghdad?

You're on crack if you think his government is not a stooge governemt. That's why we have 3/4 of the US Army over there - to prop it up.

It will collapse as soon as we leave because this is NOT a government freely chosen by the Iraqi people.

Get back to Fox News. They will tell you what you want to hear.

Better yet, get to a recruiter so you can go see for yourself how great things are in Iraq.

[BeHereNow]

27. Hear, hear!

I second that idea!
Welcome to DU Durant!
I second the idea of your enlisting.
Then you can go to Iraq
and write to us here on DU from Iraq, and tell us
we were wrong about everything.
As a personal request, once you are in Iraq,
please send me some pictures of the
hugs and flowers the Iraqi people are
giving my nephew and his wife who are
serving the corporate facists running the United States
of the World Empire.
Poor kids, they thought they had enlisted to
serve our country and hoped to get a college education
out of it. They will be lucky to both live long enough
to have kids of their own at this point...
BHN

[Charles19]

29. They are only in charge of the room they are in inside protected zone

[PunkPop]

14. The puppets have proved one thing.

They sure know how to inspire an insurgency!

[Festivito]

15. Oil... nt

[daleo]

16. Chalabi will have little control over the oil anyway.

The resistance seems quite capable of controlling the flow of oil, through the expedient of a few well placed bombs.

[Junkdrawer]

18. That caps it - They think we're retarded...

Jon Stewart was right.

[BeHereNow]

28. Don't look now Junkdrawer....

but one of us on this thread is.
BHN

[The_Casual_Observer]

21. Chalabi proves that once you're in , you're in.

Same as with the CEO/ board of directors cult in the US.

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

22. Ahmad Chalabi Will Act as Iraqi Oil Minister...surprise, surprise.

Iraqi lawmakers OK Cabinet for new government
Five ministry posts filled temporarily
Thursday, April 28, 2005 Posted: 2:35 PM EDT (1835 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- In a milestone move, Iraq's National Assembly chose a new government Thursday following three months of political wrangling in the wake of historic elections.

But Iraq's transitional assembly isn't finished yet, approving only a partial list of Cabinet members.

<SNIP>

Two of al-Jaafari's deputy prime ministers are well-known politicians. They include Ahmed Chalabi, a Shiite and one-time Pentagon favorite who fell out of favor with the United States. The former exile long touted that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction -- the chief reason the Bush administration cited in its invasion of the country. Such weapons have never been found.

Article - http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/04/28/iraq.main/index.html

List of newly elected/appointed cabinet - http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/04/28/iraq.cabinet/index.html

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[stellanoir]

24. yay

another inappropriate sleeze bucket who is totally inappropriate for the job.

Everytime there is another appointment or promotion, it's increasingly mind boggling.

And so inspiring to both my kid and me.

[BeHereNow]

25. You just can't make this stuff up!

Good thing the average 'murikkkan has the
attention span of a flea.
The REAL mindblower here is that I assure you this:
Joe Six-Pack has completely forgotten what was
in the news about this man mere months ago...
No one will even blink at this news...
BHN

[katty]

31. Our Troops Died/Dying for these A-holes??!!

Chalabi??!! back by popular demand?! or just that he knows where all the bush/cheney bodies are buried?

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. And the icing on the cake - Chalabi's nephew is the Finance Minister

With his nephew also installed as finance minister, Chalabi and his family appear to have a firm grip on the country's purse strings.

Once Saddam Hussein's most visible opponent in exile, Chalabi, 60, is now tasked with overseeing the world's second-largest proven crude reserves until a permanent chief is found. Oil is the country's only major source of export earnings, crucial to rebuilding Iraq's devastated economy.
...
"Having two close members of the same family in two key economic ministries may raise questions for the Iraqis and those who want to do business in Iraq," said Judith Kipper, director of the Middle East Forum at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.
...
The incoming finance minister, Ali Abdel-Amir Allawi, 58, was a consultant to the World Bank and headed a London-based investment company called Pan-Arab. Like his mathematician uncle, he is an MIT graduate. But his supporters play down his ties to Chalabi, noting he is also related to outgoing Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/28/AR2005042801261.html