Occupation's new guise.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Editor's Note

When Paul Bremer hastened his formal exit from Iraq on June 28, the Bush Administration trumpeted the end of the U.S. occupation and the onset of Iraqi sovereignty. But the occupation continues, only under a: new guise. And Iraqis are far from sovereign.

How can they be when 130,000 U.S. troops are in their midst?

How can they be when the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will house several thousand personnel, by far the largest outpost of the empire?

How can they be when, in the days before departing, Bremer issued one edict after another that will determine many of the contours of Iraq's government for years to come?

One of those edicts, according to an article in The Washington Post, established five-year terms of office for Iraq's national security adviser and national intelligence chief. In addition, Bremer "has installed inspectors-general for five-year terms in every ministry." He handed down a seventy-six-page law enshrining the rights of private companies and tailoring the economy to meet the requirements of the World Trade Organization, the Post noted. And, the article added, he empaneled a seven-member commission with the "power to disqualify political parties and any of the candidates they support."

The notion that Bremer was handing over power to the Iraqis was also laughable when you consider the particular Iraqi who grabbed the reins. Dr. Iyad Allawi, long on the CIA payroll, is now under deep cover as Iraq's prime minister. Allawi was handpicked not by U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who was supposed to do so, but by Bremer and the now defunct Iraqi Governing Council, itself a creature of Bremer.

It was all so convenient. Now Bush has his very own Iraqi quisling to carry out his every wish.

Allawi wasted no time in office before shredding the fallback rationale for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which was, as you'll remember, to bring democracy to Baghdad.

Barely a week into office...