Washington — Despite millions of dollars in U.S. aid, the leading Iraqi opposition group has proved so hapless in making use of the money, accounting for it, finding recruits for Pentagon training and preventing its own fragmentation that the State Department is searching for alternatives.
The Iraqi National Congress is also now so out of favor in the Arab world and Turkey that all but one of the states bordering Iraq have made clear to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other U.S. officials that they won't allow the group to operate out of their territory, officials say.
"Leaders in the region say that the INC now has no meaningful support left inside Iraq and even less ability to threaten, much less topple, (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein. They see them as the gang that couldn't shoot straight," said a well-placed administration official. "So they see our involvement with the INC as a clear sign that we're not serious about changing the regime in Baghdad."
The growing frustration has led the Bush administration to look for a wider group of Iraqi dissidents. Last week, Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker met with three leading dissidents outside the INC.
"We're not walking away from the INC. We're broadening our scope," Walker said. "We want to include those elements not in the INC, particularly Sunni Muslim interests and those who represent military interests in Iraq. If we are going to be serious about this, we have to seek broad representation inside and outside Iraq and work to enhance the efforts of everyone."
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