Iraqi Council Flexes Muscles (Defies Coalition)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-whither29dec29,1,4509609.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Seen by a distrustful public as a tool of the occupying powers, Iraq's Governing Council is coming of age on the job, as it tries to define a leadership to take over from the United States and its allies.

But as the 25-member body steers Iraq toward sovereignty, promised in a mere six months, it is acting like a defiant adolescent, challenging the authority and wisdom of those who gave it life. And its bargaining position has been strengthened by the Bush administration's apparent eagerness to declare its mission accomplished before the U.S. presidential election.

No longer the passive instrument U.S. civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer III used to carve the contours of a new Iraq, the council has become increasingly assertive, demanding control of the reconstruction purse strings and the authority to supplant Bremer's vision with its own.

Council members complained that fledgling Iraqi security forces were not given the financial support or authority needed to combat insurgents. They prevailed in getting U.S. assurances that war crimes suspects — jailed former leader Saddam Hussein first among them — will be handed over to Iraqis for prosecution, despite pressure from some American circles to try them in an international forum.

and by the time Bush pulls most of the troops out in May, this US puppet organization may have a hard time staying alive, as Karzai, the US puppet in Afghanistan is finding out.

but I am doubtful.

Julie

challenging the authority and wisdom of those who gave it life....

Authority and wisdom...Yes, we have THOSE in abundance.