Backstabbing for Beginners Page #6

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And we can't control the storm.

All we can do is plot our course,

set our sails, and try to do our best.

As we did, and we do.

Best for who, Pasha? Best for you.

Not best for Nashim.

Not best for her people.

Ah, look, maybe you love this spy, f***.

Who am I to argue with the heart?

Don't let her get you killed.

We can help her people,

but we have to do it our way.

Bush's coalition of the willing

is going to invade Iraq

in a matter of days now.

Consensus is changing,

and the new truth is Saddam is history,

and Oil-for-Food

can be successful framework

for rebuilding of a new free Iraq

in which the United Nations...

not the carpetbaggers

and craven governments

who created this nightmare...

the UN can take the lead f***ing role.

You and me, kid.

We can save the world...

and save your girl.

Trust me.

My fellow citizens, at this hour

American and coalition forces

are in the early stages

of military operations

to disarm Iraq, to free its people,

and to defend the world from grave danger.

Over the next 24 to 48 hours,

perhaps as many as 3,000,

3,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles,

satellite guided precision bombs,

laser guided bombs

would be dropped at various targets

not only in Baghdad, around Baghdad,

but elsewhere around the...

Six weeks after the invasion

I was back in Baghdad

to work on Pasha's plan to put the UN

in charge of rebuilding the new Iraq.

The sanctions were lifted.

The free market would power the country.

Free elections would give

every citizen a voice,

and oil would pay the bills.

Pasha still had strong connections.

And he kept his promise to me.

Nashim Husseini.

The days when we were together.

Blank pages.

I missed you.

I have something for you.

A new passport and a visa, so...

Here. You can stay as long as you want.

And what about the list?

I gave it to Pasha.

- You traded the list for me?

- Yeah.

- Why?

- I didn't exactly have a choice.

I made a judgment call, okay?

And what do you think

is going to happen with Pasha now?

Pasha can still do

a lot of good in the UN.

- You are dreaming.

- I'm not dreaming.

I'm not dreaming, I'm not, okay?

Consensus has changed,

and with Saddam gone

we can actually do a lot of good.

- Finally...

- Just by thinking

you can work with the criminals

to take what you want, you are lost.

Well, it wasn't exactly a fight

we were gonna win, was it?

I put all my f***ing life on this.

Who are you to decide that for me?

You said it yourself.

It's very, very f***ing complicated.

No, not this part.

This part is very simple.

- I don't want to be a part of this.

- No, no, no.

I can't.

Nashim, Nashim, wait, wait, wait.

Nashim!

I'm told you aren't answering your phone.

What the f***?

- Yeah, I've been busy.

- Yeah.

I heard.

Your Kurd took a walk.

Relationships are a train wreck.

Come on, kid.

You wanted a career in diplomacy.

Well, you're missing your golden moment.

See you at the office.

Pasha, I have those medical contracts

for you to...

I was on my way out.

Pasha.

bientt.

It's good to see you again, Michael.

You think I like it?

He's got the world in his pocket, kid.

All the major f***ing players

in the reconstruction.

I don't understand.

When did he get back into this?

He never left,

he just moved into the shadows

as the stakes got higher.

There's no one else.

We've been through this, Michael.

I'm not gonna f***ing deal with him.

What?

This is how it works.

The optimism of liberation

was short-lived.

It turned out nobody had made plans

for what to do after Saddam was gone.

The Americans had purged everyone

who had been loyal to the regime,

which meant there wasn't anybody left

who knew how to run the country.

Renetsov,

and all the other fixers like him,

filled that vacuum of power,

and now took control of the game again.

Iraq spiraled into anarchy,

chaos, and terror.

All those countries that had been

scamming Oil-for-Food before the war,

well, they got ready to carve Iraq up.

Like it was one big pie.

And me?

I was going through the motions.

I'd lost my faith in it.

Hello?

It's Nashim.

Hey.

- You okay?

- I need to see you.

Can you come downstairs?

Sure.

Michael, good to see you.

Yeah.

I got someone you gotta meet.

We need your help, Michael.

Michael Sullivan,

Mr. Shaswar Rauf.

Yeah, we met before.

He will play a central role

in the new Iraq.

You ever heard of a guy named Rasnetsov?

- Yeah.

- Yeah? You ever met him?

A few times, before the invasion.

How 'bout after?

No, I didn't.

Well, now him and his criminal

gang from Oil-for-Food are back,

and they're creating a mess in Iraq.

Yeah.

You know, there was a list of,...

individuals and organizations that were...

helping Saddam fleece Oil-for-Food.

- You guys know about that, don't you?

- Yeah,

but there was no way

to prove what was on it.

No, proof was in the Iraq Oil Ministry.

Official files that were taken

by the US troops

after the government fell.

Proof that is probably still

in the basement of the UN somewhere,

if anyone cared to look.

Look, forget about the list.

- We don't want the list anymore.

- You don't want the list.

Too many powerful people. Too political.

It's a coalition of the f***ing greedy.

No one gives a sh*t about Iraq.

Everyone just wants

the money and the crude.

Yeah, and that's why

we need to stop Rasnetsov.

And Pasha can give him to us.

Michael, we have strong intel

that your boss is involved.

Pasha's never gonna help you.

Well, maybe he just needs a little push.

And we're hoping

that maybe you can convince him.

You think I can convince Pasha?

Pasha's never gonna do it,

he's never gonna listen to you.

We can protect the UN

from any unpleasant blowback.

Diplomacy.

- What?

- Diplomacy.

Something Pasha said to me once.

So now you're the one

working with the criminals.

It's not the same.

Why isn't it the same?

We have the momentum now.

The Kurds are going to be

an important part of making...

Kurds have been fighting the same war

for pretty much 7,000 years.

You really think

this is gonna change anything?

Who can say?

But for sure it's not up to you

to decide that for us.

Come with me.

I can't.

Neonatal medicine.

Yeah, they're new vendors.

French Canadians.

They want exclusive rights

to the whole of the northern region.

That's fairly greedy,

especially for the Canadians.

- Well, I can...

- They'll need to be willing to pay

a hundred grand to make it happen.

You, do the legwork

with the Kurds

and the Provisional Authority,

I'll handle the rat, we split fifty-fifty.

Fifty thousand dollar pay off?

No, shekels.

Christ, of course dollars. What the f***?

Thank you.

Pleasure to see you again, sir,

under so much more

favorable circumstances, yes?

Ah, you must be one of the Canadians.

Cutter, sir. No.

Ah, American.

I wasn't,...

You didn't tell me

that Provisional Authority

would be sending someone

for such a routine agreement.

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