Red Guard Revisionists
01-06-2004, 13:52
Meet the Prime Minister, same as the old...
From National Public Radio's "Marketplace" Radio Show:
MP: ... (Iyad Allawi was tapped to be the first prime minister of post-saddam Iraq today). One other thing. Mr Allawi is known to be something of a businessman-a special kind of businessman. Our own Adam Davidson has been covering Iraq's reconstruction. He's recently back from Baghdad, he joins us now from New York.
MP: Is that name familiar to you Adam?
AD: Yeah, its very familiar, his name came up a great deal when I was talking to Iraqi businessmen, hes' a very well known figure there.
MP: In what context?
AD: Well, frankly, in a corrupt context. What I heard from several Iraqi businessmen, and a from few members of the Governing Council, is that Iyad Allawi is one of the figures in the new Iraq who is most likely to sell his influence for money. He has control over several of Iraq's ministries through family members, sons-in-laws, cousins, nephews, and, uh, people go to him through middlemen, pay a cut of the contract and then get very lucrative contracts with the new Iraqi government.
MP: Well now, you spent some time in Baghdad, did you meet anyone who said that they'd actually paid off Allawi?
AD: Yeah, I met a few people. One in particular, was a man who became a good friend, who is considered 'the second richest man in Iraq', and uh, he told me that yes, he is personally paying off Iyad Allawi as well as a couple other Governing Council members, through middlemen, trusted relatives.
MP: Uh, I suppose we should point out that western business standards aren't always observed in the middle east, not to say that corruption is tolerated, but deal making is part of the landscape, I mean, they are like brokers right?
AD: It is
true that brokers, usually relatives or friends who serve as middlemen between government officials and businessmen is very common throughout the middle east, certainly in the new Iraq. But I would caution you that, that doesn't mean that Iraqis accept that. Iraqis are just as disgusted by that kind of behavior as we would be here in the US if we found out that high-level government officials were making corrupt deals through relatives.
MP: The US, the UN, and the Governing Council all say that Allawi is ok by them. What do the Iraqi people think? How are they going to accept or embrace Allawi?
AD: My sense is that Allawi is one of the least popular figures in the new Iraq. Possibly second only to Ahmed Chalabi, who is far and away the least popular figure. But Iyad Allawi is greatly disliked, Iraqis see him as very typical of Saddam's regime, the corruption, the cronyism - enriching himself and his close relatives at the expense of the Iraqi people. Its something that Iraqis really don't like. And thats one of the reasons Iraqis tell me they don't have a lot of faith in this new government. I think his choice will probably be one of our many unfortunate blunders.
MP: Adam Davidson has been covering the business side of Iraq for Marketplace's The Spoils of War. More on our website marketplace.org. Adam, thanks.
AD: Thank you.
6:30
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2004/05/28_mpp.html
From National Public Radio's "Marketplace" Radio Show:
MP: ... (Iyad Allawi was tapped to be the first prime minister of post-saddam Iraq today). One other thing. Mr Allawi is known to be something of a businessman-a special kind of businessman. Our own Adam Davidson has been covering Iraq's reconstruction. He's recently back from Baghdad, he joins us now from New York.
MP: Is that name familiar to you Adam?
AD: Yeah, its very familiar, his name came up a great deal when I was talking to Iraqi businessmen, hes' a very well known figure there.
MP: In what context?
AD: Well, frankly, in a corrupt context. What I heard from several Iraqi businessmen, and a from few members of the Governing Council, is that Iyad Allawi is one of the figures in the new Iraq who is most likely to sell his influence for money. He has control over several of Iraq's ministries through family members, sons-in-laws, cousins, nephews, and, uh, people go to him through middlemen, pay a cut of the contract and then get very lucrative contracts with the new Iraqi government.
MP: Well now, you spent some time in Baghdad, did you meet anyone who said that they'd actually paid off Allawi?
AD: Yeah, I met a few people. One in particular, was a man who became a good friend, who is considered 'the second richest man in Iraq', and uh, he told me that yes, he is personally paying off Iyad Allawi as well as a couple other Governing Council members, through middlemen, trusted relatives.
MP: Uh, I suppose we should point out that western business standards aren't always observed in the middle east, not to say that corruption is tolerated, but deal making is part of the landscape, I mean, they are like brokers right?
AD: It is
true that brokers, usually relatives or friends who serve as middlemen between government officials and businessmen is very common throughout the middle east, certainly in the new Iraq. But I would caution you that, that doesn't mean that Iraqis accept that. Iraqis are just as disgusted by that kind of behavior as we would be here in the US if we found out that high-level government officials were making corrupt deals through relatives.
MP: The US, the UN, and the Governing Council all say that Allawi is ok by them. What do the Iraqi people think? How are they going to accept or embrace Allawi?
AD: My sense is that Allawi is one of the least popular figures in the new Iraq. Possibly second only to Ahmed Chalabi, who is far and away the least popular figure. But Iyad Allawi is greatly disliked, Iraqis see him as very typical of Saddam's regime, the corruption, the cronyism - enriching himself and his close relatives at the expense of the Iraqi people. Its something that Iraqis really don't like. And thats one of the reasons Iraqis tell me they don't have a lot of faith in this new government. I think his choice will probably be one of our many unfortunate blunders.
MP: Adam Davidson has been covering the business side of Iraq for Marketplace's The Spoils of War. More on our website marketplace.org. Adam, thanks.
AD: Thank you.
6:30
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2004/05/28_mpp.html