Former Iraqi premier criticizes (Allawi)

[maddezmom]

Source: Associated Press

BAGHDAD - Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite just back from barnstorming for support among Sunni Arab leaders across the Middle East, appears determined to make another run at the premiership.

His platform: Iraq cannot survive under the current Shiite leadership, and Sunnis must have a much larger role in government.

The Sunni-dominated Arab League believes this, as well, but the idea is opposed by the Shiite-led government in Iraq. Most Shiite lawmakers cannot abide Allawi's secular positions and it appears unlikely he could form a sufficiently large parliamentary coalition to retake the prime minister's office.

Iraq's Shiite-dominated government is heavily influenced by two powerful clerics, and its decisions are often heavily laced with Shiite religious doctrine. Some call the country a thinly veiled theocracy like the one in neighboring Iran, where many members of Iraq's Shiite power structure took refuge during Saddam Hussein's rule.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070331/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_allawi

[scarletwoman]

1. He's been trying to worm his way back into power in Iraq ever since the elections that totally

rejected him and his bloc. I don't entirely blame him, he seems to be an intelligent man with his sensibilities genuinely offended by the bloody chaos that has infected his home country.

He is also, of course, a creature of U.S. and U.K. Intelligence agencies -- although he has never seemed to me to be as vile and duplicitous a creature as Chalibi. And Chalibi, it must be remembered, was a creature of the U.S. State Department and the neocons -- NOT the CIA, as is Allawi.

I don't think Allawi has much of chance in his dream of riding into Iraq on his white horse and rescuing it, but that could change. Alot depends on whether or not certain factions of the Western power structure take it in mind to back him. Either that simply is highly unlikely, or those who might be so inclined are still hedging their bets.

sw

p.s. -- wanted to add:

I've been reading quite a number of stirring Allawi op-eds/essays for the past several months. It is clear that he has some hope of taking over in Iraq, though he endeavors to be subtle about it. What's important to watch for is any indication that the Western powers are arranging a Maliki exit. So far, that does not appear to be the case.

What with King Abdullah making his "illegitimate occupation" remarks at the Arab League Summit last week, one might infer that perhaps there are tides shifting at very deep levels. But sometimes surface tremors really are nothing more than occasional spurts of hot wind stirring up a bit of sand. Not yet sustained enough to reshape the entire dune.