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One Man, Two Wars
October 16, 2009 | Posted by Abu Muqawama - 5:10pm | 17 Comments
In Afghanistan, Peter Galbraith is the principled former deputy to Kai Eide who spoke out on Afghan corruption. In Iraq ... well, it's a little more complicated. Reidar Visser reports.
If proven correct, the implications of this revelation are so enormous that the story is almost unbelievable. As is well known, DNO has been criticised for the way its operations in the Kurdistan region interfere with Iraq’s constitutional process. To their credit, though, DNO are at the very least perfectly forthright about their mission in the area: They are a commercial enterprise set up to make a maximum profit in a high-risk area currently transitioning from conditions of war. Galbraith, however, was almost universally seen as “Ambassador Galbraith”, the statesmanlike former diplomat whose outspoken ideas about post-2003 Iraq were always believed to be rooted in idealism and never in anything else. Instead, it now emerges, he apparently wore several hats at the same time, and mixed his roles in ways that seem entirely incompatible with the capacity of an independent adviser on constitutional affairs.
Reidar Visser is a research
Reidar Visser is a research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
Surely just coincidence...
It can be added that the
It can be added that the reason DNO came into the searchlight of the DN was a scandal involving stock-owning kurdish ministers with dual interests pushing the stockprice up and selling through inside info. E, the scandal has been rolling long before the quarrel in Afghanistan and Visser is mainly just referring to our Wall Street Journal, Dagens Næringsliv. (although I guess its not with a little glee that the norwegians stomp on him.)
Thanks for that Fnord (jeg
Thanks for that Fnord (jeg har ikke læst Dagens Næringsliv i mange ar!).
The messaging is clear in any case to anyone that speaks out at UNAMA, especially now that we are likely to be breezing into a quick second round of the elections (with none of the structural problems enabling fraud addressed).
Stil clownin, I see. Give it
Stil clownin, I see.
Give it up.
Read Karnow's Vietnam. Have you no shame? Andrew, please. I'm going to crush you.
More like 2 wars 87 idiots.
More like 2 wars 87 idiots. You are a twat. Tell Rachel you have a penis. She still wants you to get involved.
You're a Ranger. I'm sure. Which company did you lead again?
Did your gang wear leather in combat?
Did you fight the Taliban?
What did you think of their magic carpets?
When you met Haji, was he smart enough to notice you can't read?
Huh?
I changed my mind. I'm not
I changed my mind. I'm not going to crush you. I'm going to chop, block, hold, talk, and build. That's my strategy.
"chop, block, hold, talk, and build".... oh, wait. Can I add fuck with you to that?....
No. No.No. It's saturday. Let's keep it to build and block for now.. You are a fucking idiot.
The turning point for me was when FRONTLINE decided to give you CNAS asswipes the floor. I can deal with Kilcullen. But when they start pumping the nation full of Exum and Nagl I just get riled.
Cuz I like Bacevich and Gentile.
I have my producers at Frontline/PBS.
Soon it will be time for Bacevich. The thing about Bacevich - he's a real President, Bacevich is about as good an American as you can find these these days
E: If there is a message in
E: If there is a message in this, its a curious one. It seems to be that other corrupt policymakers trying to make personal profit better not rock the boat, or else...? The whole DNO issue has been rolling for years now, and just goes to show how deeply personal profit and US policy has been through these last 8 years.
JR: Wow, you sure got some issues. Good luck with the crushing.
E. If you read through the
E. If you read through the other postings by Visser, here:
http://gulfanalysis.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/galbraith-confirms-oil-inte...
and here,
http://gulfanalysis.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/more-on-the-galbraith-story...
Also check out Helena Cobban's site beginning here:
http://justworldnews.org/archives/003844.html
You'll see that DN had been investigating the somewhat controversial oil contracts that DNO was holding with the KRG, for quite some time. Latterly they learned more details of the secretive partners in the deal, Porcupine LLC of which Galbraith was a co owner. So yes, it was a coincidence.
But to view this scandal in the context of the Afghanistan spat is to miss a very important piece of history. It should instead be looked at within the frame of reference provided so fully by Reidar Visser on his Historiae site and elsewhere these past few years.
Visser is a historian; and a good one at that. He's not a man given to speculation requiring instead high standards of proof as a foundation to his writing. His specialization has been the history and politics of the Shi'a of southern Iraq with related interest in the post-invasion constitutional process.
What you will see is Galbraith being a major driving force behind a process that sought to break up the country; a process that led to civil war. Now, with this latest information, we learn that he had an enormous financial stake in the outcome of that process.
For American media and institutions to depict this as Norwegian snittiness over a relatively minor spat in Afghanistan is to do a great disservice to history. For those interested in the Iraq civil war with all its narratives and counter-narratives, causes and effects, this should trigger some considerable re-evaluation of what happened in Iraq in these past few years. Of course, this won't happen but for those who consider themselves serious students Visser is required reading.
Peter Galbraith, a former
Peter Galbraith, a former Ambassador to Croatia is apparently friends and helped support Ahmad Chalabi’s efforts to depose Saddam. “Chalabi is one of the smartest people I know,” Galbraith stated publicly.
You remember Chalabi right? Distinguished gent, if a bit sly for some tastes. Shifty-eyed, and in demeanor as oily as the Zagros Fold Belt. Convicted and sentenced in absentia for a bank swindle in Jordan, he redeemed himself as an agent in the War on Terror.
What do you suppose he is thinking at this shining hour that Galbraith is hitting the news? I imagine him flipping Galbraith a mental middle-finger. Sucker.
Kinda funny he's dropped of the radar after the raid at his house? I've heard stories he used the Secret Police files we handed over to him to blackmail his way into being named Oil Minister in '06, and just recently he got Prime minister Malaki to name him Chair of the Services Committee. He's now responsible for restoring services like electricity and water in Baghdad.
It is a position ripe with potential for graft and bribery. He's had the position since last year but to date not a single service has been restored and nothing can be traced to his efforts. In the mean time, he has bought a big house and is always accompanied by a small army of guards. To protect the money belt, no doubt.
Any comments?
It may well be true, let's
It may well be true, let's let the facts and investigation come in before we form the lynch mob.
@Fnord,
"and just goes to show how deeply personal profit and US policy has been through these last 8 years."
8 years? Come on Fnord, next you'll claim mankind was in a state of innocence before Bush handed Eve the apple?
Whatever happened it's called Human Nature. However if he (Galbraith) did it he should pay. If.
America's Foreign and Defense policy being influenced by other than pure and disinterested motives: Yes, since the Colonial Days, Since the Days before it was called America. Since Elizabethan times. Along with the rest of humanity, including Norway. Do you think DN (just a blind guess) doesn't get paid from somewhere?
It's when they take your money and then don't deliver that people can go to jail. Or vanish. Or be marginalized and shunned. The problem now is our elites are without shame, and there are no consequences. Mostly.
My only comment is that
My only comment is that "Snake Plissken" is the best name for a commenter since "Ramzi Nohra."Considering my location,
Considering my location, meaning: being surrounded by a wall, in an city that has been in an anarchic state for the last three decades with no infrastructure and being directed to serve in this God forsaken place, I thought the name fit. :)
Thanks for the comment Abu, although I was hoping you would say something about Galbraith's relationship with Chalabi / what you've seen and read. I've only met one of these people in person and I'm not up to date on all the stuff going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Could you humor me? Please give me your take on "corruption" in Iraq and Afghanistan...and why we (the US Gov) aren't removing or arresting these people? Billions of dollars in US Foreign Assistance Funds have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan ....where's the electricity and water?
BTW- I do have a Smith & Wesson 686 with a tasco pro point on top (a homage to Snake Plissken). Got a lot of ooohhhs and ahhhhs out at the NRA Range in Fairfax, VA. It's just a toy though.
Have a great evening back in Disney Land. I'll be dreaming of pint of Guinness / some peace & quiet, while the DC hipsters bang all the prom queens back home.
Ciao.
JR's in love.
JR's in love.
Elf: While I am aware of the
Elf: While I am aware of the fact that mankind has a certain tendency to enrich itself at the cost of others, the Brewmer admin and its cronies still stands out as something special and particular: An open bank-robbery and a direct subjugation of orders carried out in broad daylight without anyone getting punished. Hercules-planes full of dollars disappearing in the desert. Central functionaries like Galbraith being openly corrupt, and noone notices. Its a whole new level of corruption for the west, as far as I can understand.
One man two wars.. Huh,
One man two wars.. Huh, really? :)
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