Geodog

The man who would teach the Iraqis about democracy: Michael Mobbs

Yesterday's NYT has a story about a secret rehearsal the Bush Administration recently held of its plans for running Iraq after we conquer it. The government will be run by the Pentagon's newly created Orwellian sounding "Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance." Buried in the bottom of the story was the tidbit that the civil administration would be headed by Michael H. Mobbs. Mr. Mobbs is a longtime associate of Prince of Darkness Richard Perle, and has also been a lobbyist for the Turkish government. He worked in the Reagan administration, and he has long worked for one of Perle's disciples, Douglas Feith. But he has made the news over the last year as a "Special Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy" and head of the Detainee Policy group. As such he is one of the architects of the Bush Administration's policy of asserting the right to detain "enemy combatants" indefinitely without trial or grant of POW status. He is also the author of the infamous Mobbs Declaration, where, as Judge Doumar eloquently put it, "I do think that due process requires something other than a basic assertion by someone named Mobbs that they have looked at some papers and therefore they have determined he should be held incommunicado. Just think of the impact of that. Is that what we're fighting for?".

This is the man who is going to teach the Iraqis about democracy?

Thanks to The Nana for the tip.