pudge's Journal: Ayad Allawi

Ayad Allawi was nominated by the Iraqi Governing Council today to serve as the next Iraqi Prime Minister, until elections next year. Now, I barely know Ayad Allawi from Adam. The one thing I do know is that he was the one who propped up a very dubious link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

I don't know enough to condemn the man, but the memory of another pro-West Iraqi exile that the U.S. government funded, who propped up bad intelligence to us, is still fresh in my mind. The U.S., meanwhile, has kept its distance from the IGC move, saying it was looking to Lakhdar Brahimi to make his recommendations. Just over one month to go ...

He bothers me

[buffer-overflowed]

For one main reason. He was an exile.

I don't think the Iraqi's will take him seriously because of that. How can you expect the people that were oppressed and stuck it out to be lead by an apointee that stuck his tail between his legs and fled?

Apart from that, I have other problems with him... but I'll leave that at that.

Re:He bothers me

[Cyberdyne]

For one main reason. He was an exile.

The Hussein opponents who didn't go into exile have a rather bigger drawback of being dead...

I don't think the Iraqi's will take him seriously because of that. How can you expect the people that were oppressed and stuck it out to be lead by an apointee that stuck his tail between his legs and fled?

From what I've heard about other returning exiles, the Iraqis don't hold it against them at all - largely because those who went into exile did so because they'd done som

Re:He bothers me

[buffer-overflowed]

They don't hold it against them for being in exile but they do get a bit irritated when someone who hasn't been there for 10 or 20 years is appointed to lead them by other outsiders(us).

Almost the entire IGC is composed of former exiles, and the new government is going to be composed almost entirely of former exiles. If the end goal is a democratic government representing the people of Iraq, that's a real funny way to go about achieving that.

Re:He bothers me

[Cyberdyne]

They don't hold it against them for being in exile but they do get a bit irritated when someone who hasn't been there for 10 or 20 years is appointed to lead them by other outsiders(us). Almost the entire IGC is composed of former exiles, and the new government is going to be composed almost entirely of former exiles. If the end goal is a democratic government representing the people of Iraq, that's a real funny way to go about achieving that.

I agree it's not particularly democratic - but then, the whole

Re:He bothers me

[Otter]

They don't hold it against them for being in exile but they do get a bit irritated when someone who hasn't been there for 10 or 20 years is appointed to lead them by other outsiders(us).

I concur, and I hope that the lesson is at least learned before we go through the same routine when Castro finally dies and a bunch of Miamians who haven't set foot on the island in 50 years all decide they should be in charge.

Now wait a minute....

[Red Warrior]

You're supposed to be one of those "damn neocons" - surely you know you are required to support all actions of the current administration - else leftists all over the country will self-destruct!