[Newspoetry] Newspoem -- Another Joker in the Deck

[Newton Bigelow]

Another Joker in the Deck

Dateline Baghdad --

Can't believe I'm still here. The Palestine Hotel never ceases to become a 
less comfortable place to live.  Power's still spotty, the water supply is 
wildly unpredictable, and I'm profoundly sick of the menu at the Cafe. Jay 
Garner told me personally I'd be headed back to Madrid on the "first plane 
out", then took a powder himself.  The new guy, Bremer, won't even return 
my calls.

I hear rumors that back in the States they think the war is over.  What a 
joke.  There are gun battles here every day, with fatalities on both sides.
   Outside of Baghdad, it's even worse.  If you walk the halls of The 
Palestine, you can hear military officers and civilian advisors discussing 
troop movements, battle plans, and requests for reinforcements.  Nobody is 
talking about leaving any time soon.

You don't hear much talk of an autonomous Iraqi government, either. People 
around here use the word "supervise" a lot.  "The emergence of a 
democratic Iraq must be tightly supervised."  "The close supervision of 
the transitioning of authority to an evolving Iraqi government is vital to 
ensure the security of our interests on the ground."  "We will supervise 
the day-to-day logistics of the reconstruction process in order to more 
efficiently upgrade the Iraqi infrastructure to current high-productivity 
standards."

Iraqis I've spoken with  are dismayed by all this supervision.  It's 
becoming clear that the departure of Saddam Hussein is not going to 
enlarge their ability to determine their own future.  Very few want Saddam 
back, but no one wants the Americans here, either.  Bremer and his team of 
meat-eaters leave little doubt in anyone's mind that the course of Iraqi 
history is going to progress along a carefully laid out path which has 
little to do with the interests of the Iraqis themselves.  There's a 
general feeling that whoever ends up running this country will owe more 
loyalty to Washington than Baghdad.

Speaking of which, I had a drink in the lobby with Ahmed Chalabi last week.
   As head of the "Iraqi National Congress", Chalabi currently looks like 
the favorite to occupy the figurehead role.  He's a bit of a rogue, a man 
with a price on his head, so to speak, as a result of his conviction in 
absentia on charges of embezzlement in Jordan.  More at home in London 
than Baghdad, he was drawn here by the lure of power, plus assurances that 
the CIA could make his legal problems go away.

Chalabi turns out to be a witty and imaginative fellow.  Turns out he's 
the author of the stories about Saddam's "imminent threat" to the United 
States.  It seems that a few years ago, he was flogging some badly-forged 
documents around to every intelligence agency that would give him the time 
of day.  Actually, it was all a gag.  Chalabi had a longstanding grudge 
against Saddam, and was looking for payback.  He was as surprised as 
anyone that the US took it seriously.

Chalabi knows how to play the media, too.  He makes enough anti-US noise 
to sound independent, but makes it clear that he is a reasonable man, 
willing to make a deal.  He must bring tears of joy to Karl Rove's piggy 
little eyes.  Regime change is so much easier when all the actors stick to 
the script.  Chalabi knows the script by heart.  His friends in Washington 
must be very proud.

Speaking for myself, I found that Chalabi, like so many ambitious men, 
flatly declines to pick up a check.

Best Regards,

Newton