NYT:Insurgency & Able Govt Prompted (Iraqi) Transfer Decision

[DeepModem Mom]

PLANNING
Insurgency and Able Government Prompted Transfer Decision
By ERIC SCHMITT

Published: June 29, 2004


ISTANBUL, June 28 — More than a week ago, a handful of top Bush administration officials and their Iraqi allies in Baghdad began seriously mulling a once far-fetched idea: Why wait until June 30 to transfer sovereignty to the new interim Iraqi government?

By Monday morning, their secret plan had become a stunning reality as NATO leaders meeting here, as well as the rest of the world, learned that a transition to formal sovereignty scheduled for Wednesday had happened 48 hours early. American officials said the interim Iraqi prime minister, Iyad Allawi, made the final decision late Sunday, with President Bush's blessing.

The story of how a transfer that critics once said could never be done by June 30 was accomplished even earlier offers a peek into the administration's secretive decision making and its desire to bolster a crucial ally and keep a ruthless insurgency off balance.

Bush administration officials said the decision to move early was based largely on two factors: growing fears that insurgents would try to disrupt the transfer on Wednesday with large-scale attacks nationwide, and a strong sense that Dr. Allawi's fledgling government was ready and able to go....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/29/international/29TICK.html

[David__77]

1. This is true comedy: "Allawi's government" "stunning reality..."

Ha ha! Ho ho! Too much! Sovereignty... please! This Vichy-sovereignty stuff is too funny!