The Return of `Allawi. The resignation of the Fadilah Party members of the Iraqi puppet parliament from the ruling coalition is, in my non-humble opinion, part of the new alternative US plan for Iraq. It is an early sign that the surge plan has failed. This will set the stage for the return of Iyad `Allawi, as the new sole and undisputed leader for Iraq. The plan has as much chances of success as all the other past devious plans for Iraq. The US is already preparing to replace Maliki. We knew this all along: you can read it in Hillary's speeches. The Iraqis will be blamed for not doing enough to help Americans to occupy them in peace. The Iraqis will be rebuked, and the the occupation forces will leave. They have to leave. What else is there to try? American, I am certain, will then engage in that special art form that no nation excel at as Americans: the art of self-congratulation and self-praise. Americans will offer tributes to the occupation soldiers and their "sacrifices"--then they will add words of condemnation for those unfgrateful Iraqis who could not thanks and appreciate their occupiers. Well, Makiya did thanks the occupation of his country, but does he really count? When you read Paul Bremer's account, you realize that Allawi (former puppet prime minister/car bomber/Saddam's henchman/embezzler-in-Yemen) is the only Iraqi trusted by the Amerians. And by the way: has anybody really verified the story of the assassination attempt on Allawi with..an axe years ago? This story is as credible as the story of Christopher Hitchens' interview with Abu Nidal.
PS K., one of the most well-informed "observers" of the contemporary Arab scene, sent me some information after I posted this. This an excerpt:
"he was in 78 the head of the iraqi intelligence netwok in europe. in that capacity, he was assigned the task of disbursing sums of cash to arab cronies of the ba'ath regime.in 77-78, complaints accumulated by recipients indicating that their allotments were shrinking under his pretext that the source is ratcheting it down.the specific complainants were arab liberation front members.the center initially shrugged the complaints off , only to realize ,after pause, that there maybe some merit to them. somebody in center alerted him to the forthcoming dispatch of an investigative team.at that point , he threw his lot..."