Adnan Pachachi

A brief interview from The Khaleej Times with Adnan Pachachi, rumored front-runner for the post of interim Iraqi President. The paper is based in the UAE. I couldn't say how much credibility should be assigned to it:

Former Iraqi foreign minister Adnan Pachachi said “conspiracies” against him forced him to withdraw his candidacy for president, paving the way for Ghazi al-Yawer to become Iraq’s first post-Saddam president, the al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper said on Wednesday.

He was fought “because of my liberal secular views”, said Pachachi in an interview with the London-based newspaper.

I can't say that I have a clear sense of who would be "right" for Iraq. That's a question well outside the scope of my competence.

However, I did find this March, 2003 op-ed from Mr. Pachachi... he should certainly get some points for prescience:

Post-conflict Iraq, rather than the conflict itself, has become the focus of global attention. Two options dominate current thinking: US military rule, or a government in exile. Both are flawed and counter-productive. The former is oblivious to a vibrant Iraqi nationalism; the latter ignores the aspirations of massive anti-Ba'athist forces inside the country.

This is the reason I have rejected offers to take a leading part in the arrangements for the post-Saddam era. Last week, Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, invited me to join the leadership of the Iraqi opposition. I declined for three reasons. First, I have serious doubts about the legitimacy of such a group or its representative nature. Second, any body formed by such a group would have only advisory responsibilities during the transitional period, not executive ones. Serving as an advisory body attached to a US military administration would be damaging and unacceptable. Third, I have reservations about the group's structure and membership. Hence my surprise to learn on Friday that I had been elected to the six-man leadership committee. This is a portent of how selection may go through without due process of information and consultation.

...

Most Iraqis reject the imposition of a government from outside. Iraqi nationalism is still a vibrant force to reckon with. A vast majority inside the country, which has borne the brunt of Mr Hussein's oppression, must and can be consulted before any authority is installed in Baghdad. A narrow-based government in exile would be disruptive. Reliable surveys indicate strong antipathy towards a government "parachuted" in from abroad.

...

The principal tasks of the interim administration should be to maintain law and order, defend the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq, provide essential services, revive the economy and prepare for elections. Immediate steps would be required to enable the people to engage freely in political activity, such as the formation of political parties. The interim administration should enact an electoral law based on universal adult suffrage for the election, under international supervision, of a constituent assembly to draft a constitution. The constitution should contain guarantees for fundamental human rights, provide for periodic elections and the peaceful transfer of power and ensure the subordination of the military to civilian government. The rule of law must be guaranteed under an independent judicial system. It must prohibit torture and summary execution, degrading or inhuman punishment, arbitrary arrest and other atrocities from which the Iraqi people have suffered for many decades.

The draft constitution should be submitted to a referendum under international supervision. Only then could elections be held for the first genuinely democratic government in Iraq's modern history. This government would have to deal with many problems, such as reversing the effects of political, ethnic and sectarian oppression and upholding the principle of Iraqi identity and citizenship. Pluralism and tolerance rather than segmentation are the answer. The government would have to agree with the representatives of the Kurdish people about the system under which the Kurds would live in a united Iraq. Indeed, it should endeavour to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of all ethnic and religious groups.

As Bush turns hard to get back on the "course" he allegedly wishes to "stay" it's useful to make note of the lights he didn't navigate by...