Caretaker Iraqi Government Assembled

by Steve

With a caretaker government now fully assembled to accept a transfer of sovereignty after June 30, the Iraqi Governing Council managed to get control of the transitional government from both the UN and the Coalition Provisional Authority. Clearly, it remains to be seen how much credibility this transitional government will have with Iraqis on the street, given the role of the previously maligned IGC in this new body, and the realization that security concerns dictate that this body only have limited authority and maintain over 100,000 US troops on their soil until 2006. But Mr. Bush at this point is simply trying to get past June 30 and show the Iraqi people that any attacks against this government after that date are in fact attacks against the Iraqi people and their freedom, and not attacks against the US. But it is not known how well the Iraqi people will feel about not seeing total control over their own lives anytime soon.

Such a scenario plays out well in Karl Rove’s calculus, since Bush will claim victory in liberating Iraq. But the two most important criteria to American voters this fall will be the fate of our troops over there, and what this invasion and occupation did to advance the war on terror. And it is on those two criteria that Mr. Bush’s Iraq policy will be judged between now and November.