Agence Global - Article

Agence Global - Article: "The House of Chalabi: The Future of Iraq?
by William O. BeemanReleased: 20 May 2004


On May 20, U.S. forces raided the offices of Ahmad Chalabi, seizing documents and computers. Conventional wisdom is that Mr. Chalabi has now been discredited as a future Iraqi leader. Appearances are deceptive, however. In a few months Ahmad Chalabi will be the next ruler of Iraq, starting what looks to be a hereditary regime.

He is establishing himself in all of the key structures of government from his position on the Iraqi Governing Council including the Council's economic and finance committee, which he heads. He also heads the De-Baathification Commission and has been able to appoint the minister of oil, the central bank governor, the minister of finance, the trade minister, the head of the trade bank and the designated managing director of the largest commercial bank in Iraq.

These officials are all beholden to him, but to make sure that his support in the future government will be solid, Chalabi has created extra insurance by installing his relatives everywhere in the post June 30th governmental structure, in true Middle Eastern fashion. They are the most loyal employees of all, and his potential successors. First and foremost among them are his nephews.

The term �nepotism� comes from the Italian nepote �nephew.� Mr. Chalabi has nephews galore. If anyone tries to prevent him from his ruthless ascendancy to power, his nephews are there to provide the tools to destroy his enemies. He has them well positioned in the judiciary, in the military and in finance to anchor all of his other appointees. After June 30, when there is little or no competing administrative organization in Iraq, such as the Coalition Provisional Authority, it will be hard to prevent Chalabi from assuming power with such str"