Surprise, surprise! Allawi's speech was written by the White House

[kskiska]

Michael Barone, sitting in at Faux News just said so. Brit Hume said, "Do we know this?" and he said something to the effect that it's known to be so.

[BootinUp]

1. I hope other journalists pick this up and report it

I doubt it surprises many here. :eyes:

[Cha]

2. Somebody called it on the long thread this

morning regarding the joint press conference(boy, was that a Hoot!)..
They said allawi was using rove words!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I'm shocked...Shocked!

How could this happen? </sarcasm>

[xray s]

4. But of course!

How many puppets do you know that speak for themselves?

[soothsayer]

5. shocker! (that it's being said out loud!) n/t

[kskiska]

6. Just pu t Tweety on and Dan Burton

commented on something that Norah O'Donnell apparently said previously to the effect that the speech was a White House product. Tweety claimed she didn't say that.

The dead giveaway on the origin of the speech to me was the line that "the world is better off now that Saddam Hussein is gone." That's an old chestnut repeated ad infinitum by each and every wingnut.

[librechik]

12. Burton got his panties in a wad at the mere suggestion

that WH wrote the speech. He was all up in Tweety's face about it!

HA!

[goodhue]

7. no wonder it sounded exactly like GOP drivel

[EST]

9. Really?! No kiddin'?!

Those scamps! Sorry, couldn't resist.

[gratuitous]

8. Well, Allawi surely represents an independent Iraq!

No reason for any Iraqi to be suspicious of this relative of Ahmad Chalabi in the driver's seat in Baghdad. He's surely his own man, totally dedicated to Iraq and its future. No conflicts, no ulterior motives. Pure as the driven snow in Baghdad in August.

These clowns aren't even bothering to try to cover it up anymore. They either have a fool-proof scheme to steal the November election or they're so hopelessly out of it that they just don't give a flying Cheney anymore.

[sr_pacifica]

10. Ha! I thought I noticed Bush's style

Note:

“Elections will occur in Iraq on time in January because Iraqis want elections on time,” Allawi told a joint meeting of Congress

[krkaufman]

11. Of course it was.

Allawi is just another Bush Admin official so I don't see why his opinions are of any import. It's not as though he's a democratically elected leader of a sovereign nation. Crikey!

However, ABC News nailed Bush and Allawi good.

ABC pointed out that Allawi had just previously said that thousands of terrorists were streaming over the borders, and that the "small" insurgency numbered around 20,000 (which might be considered small relative to a population of 25 million). Even better, ABC quoted a "military commander" refuting Allawi's statement that 15 of 18 Iraq provinces are secured and ready for elections today. The commander gave Martha Raditz a 2-word answer: "NO WAY." Another commander said "maybe 9 or 10, and that's being generous."

[Disturbed]

13. Iraqi Elections?

U.S. Puppet Govt. in Iraq

Supposedly, there will be an election in Iraq in Jan. ’05.
Right now there is an Iterim Prime Minister, a Pres. and two VPs.
There are also cabinet officers, of Defense, Treasury, Health etc.

This election will have candidates that according to the rules
are not supposed to be the same ones that are in the Interim positions.
Meaning: those in positions now are not illegible to run in the upcoming elections.
I strongly suspect that the rules will be brocken on all counts if this election ever takes
place. Elections require money to operate and candidates need money to promote themselves. Where is this money going to come from for candidates that are now not part of the “Interim Govt.”?
_____________________________________________________________

"Since the Shi’ites are the dominant majority of Iraq with the Kurds second and the Sunnis third how will the three groups power share? What sort of Govt. system is Iraq going to put in place that will assure that no one group will dominate the others? In the US we have states but in Iraq there are no states just cities and territories. I don’t understand how a new Govt. will be organized.

"Most significant of all, the withdrawal from these cities calls into question the practicality of nationwide elections scheduled to take place before the end of January. At the moment, the Americans appear to be prepared to hold elections without cities like Falluja and Ramadi. But excluding the largely Sunni Arab areas from the elections would raise serious doubts about their legitimacy. Already, one of the country's leading Sunni groups, the Sunni Clerics Association, boycotted the selection of the National Council, which serves as a de facto Parliament here."

"We think the elections will be fake," said Abdul Salam al-Qubesi, a leading Sunni cleric and a member of the association.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/090604D.shtml

[Andromeda]

14. Gee, why am I not surprised...

Bush was given the "Play of the Day" award by CNN by some whimpy looking reporter for his press conference with Allawi.

Give me a frickin' break!