QUOTE OF THE DAY

Medea Benjamin, the founding director of the international human
rights group Global Exchange, is also co-founder of the Occupation Watch
Center in Iraq. Paul Bremer, in Washington mid-week, repeatedly cited the
Iraqi Governing Council in his remarks. Benjamin said today:

"The Bush administration wants the Iraqi Governing Council to
rubber-stamp policies coming from Washington and to take the blame when things go
wrong. The problem for the administration is that some members of the Council
have begun to question U.S. policies, such as opening Iraq to foreign
investment or the U.S. plan for writing and approving the constitution. So now
there are rumors that the U.S. wants to get rid of the Council in favor of a
more pliable transition team. But any new team will come up against the same
contradiction: it is impossible to find Iraqis who are both legitimate
leaders and willing to blindly do the U.S. bidding." MEDEA BENJAMIN