NYT: Allawi Everything Bush Re-Election Campaign Could Ask For, BUT...

[Placebo]

Iraq's appointed leader, Ayad Allawi, put on an impressive performance yesterday in Washington. Addressing Congress and then holding a joint news conference with President Bush, he thanked America in the name of the Iraqi people for overthrowing Saddam Hussein. Challenging the news reports that Americans get daily, Mr. Allawi claimed that security is improving, economic reconstruction is progressing and democratic institutions are taking root. It was everything the Bush re-election campaign could have asked for. Unfortunately, most of it was wrong.
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Until Iraq holds free elections, Mr. Allawi cannot claim to speak for more than the narrow coalition of exile parties that maneuvered his appointment as interim prime minister. Increasingly well-organized and deadly attacks are directed against American troops, foreign relief workers and Iraqi security recruits.
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Mr. Allawi has not tried very hard to remake himself as a democrat. He has armed himself with the power to declare martial law and reinstated the death penalty, and he closed the Baghdad offices of Al Jazeera when it refused to adjust its editorial policies to his liking. His main appeal to Iraqis rests on the notion that he may be the only politician ruthless enough to hold the fragmenting country together.
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He was occasionally compelling, but ultimately unconvincing, with contradictory messages that things are going well and that airing any evidence that things are not going well provides aid and comfort to terrorists. It's disturbing to see someone who presents himself as the future leader of a democracy begin by expressing doubts about the value of a free press and refusing to accept the importance of an honest and realistic discussion of what's happening in his country.

full article may be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/opinion/24fri2.html?pagewanted=print&position=

[GainesT1958]

1. From what I heard of him...

Allawi followed Dub's line to the hilt: if one can't tell them the truth--no sweat, just LIE a lot!:eyes:

B-)

[Placebo]

2. Exactly.

They both seem to practice the same governing style.

[UCLA Dem]

3. Thats the second great NYT article I've seen posted.

Finally someone is calling that chickenshit out!!!

[UCLA Dem]

4. What else do you expect from a Bush puppet?

This one is so easy for Kerry.

[sonicx]

5. yesterday on randi rhodes...

she said the guy's been involved in terrorism. anyone have articles on this?

[Kimber Scott]

6. Bush hired him. I'm sure they have the same speech-writer, too.

The whole thing reminded me of when Bush had Tony Blair come "talk to Congress" for him. Like a little kid does when he wants to keep himself out of trouble with his parents, "Dude! Will you come home with me and talk to my dad about this? He won't get so mad at me, if you're there. He'll believe you, dude. Will ya, dude? Please, huh?"

[Safi]

7. Umm, go read Josh Marshall on this..

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_09_19.php#003517

Just a snip from a NewsHour exchange in his post.

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JIM LEHRER: What would you say to somebody in the United States who questions whether or not getting rid of Saddam Hussein was worth the cost of more than a thousand lives now and billions and billions of U.S. dollars?

PRIME MINISTER IYAD ALLAWI: Well, I assure you if Saddam was still there, terrorists will be hitting there again at Washington and New York, as they did in the murderous attack in September; they'll be hitting also on other places in Europe and the Middle East.

------

-Safi

[Placebo]

10. Wow...

I didn't think that things could get any worse, but you proved me wrong!

[TheWebHead]

8. the sad part is that for American political comsumption

by the very fact he travelled to DC to visit * means he lost every bit of the smidgen of crediblity he had left in Iraq. They should have kept Allawi as far from * as possible before January's election if they wanted any chance of him getting legally elected.

[oasis]

9. Alawi's a lying sack of shit just like his puppetmaster.

[moondust]

11. Probably planned long ago as a campaign event.

Just like the phony terror alert after the DNC, the phony polls after the RNC, the phony Swiftshit smear before the RNC, the phony Memogate to try to take AWOL off the table, the coming BBV and other tricks. Republicans can't do anything without a script.

Unfortunately for them they again failed to predict what the state of affairs would be on the ground in Iraq during the Allawi campaign event and happy talk wasn't nearly enough to hide the truth.

[Placebo]

12. The only good thing about all this...

is that the media is becoming more and more skeptical about the positive spin coming out of this administration, when their talking points couldn't be more removed from reality.