America Looks for a way out but cant find the escape hatch
On the 30 th of this month Iraq will go to the polls. The violence unleashed in Iraq has already made the whole excersise suspect. Candidates are afraid of going before the people. The Sunni population is not at all ken about the poll process, and hence the Shias are likely to benefit from the Sunni boycott of the polls. Thus the elections in Iraq will throw up a government that lacks basic legitimacy in the eyes of the people. Bush has already stated that he wil withdraw his troops from Iraq if the new government asks for a withdrawl. It is clear that the USA wants to cut its losses and leave but does not want to do so in a manner that reminds the world of the American departure from Vietnam. It is hoping for a Allawi victory which would give USA more room for manoevring. So ALLAWI is the man of the hour.
Iyad Allawi, Washington's Prime Minister in Bagdad was a life long member of the very Baath Party the the USA wants out . At one point in time the fromer dictator, {I do not nean Viceroy Paul Bremmer} Saddam Hussain and the current US favourite were the best of friends, It must be admitted that once Saddam mand Allawi fell out, the latter never made any attempt to compromise with the dictator, instead he joined the CIA sponsored effort to topple Saddam. It is well known that in 1978 the secret service of Iraq made an attempt on Allai's life in London and Allawi escaped quite narrowly with his life. This episode shows that Allawi was a brave man, but it does not do any credit to his wisdom or political sagacity. Unlike the former American favourite Ahmed Chablis, Allawi hails from a well to do background and hence there are no wild tales of financial misconduct.
There is a very disturbing aspect of Iyad Allawi which does not gel with the loudly trumpetted cause of Democracy and Human Rights. Allawi as every one in Bagdad knows is very fond of using torture against his political rivals and has even indulged his passion for killing. The CIA handlers of Allawi are aware of his propensity to use violence and yet the USA backed him over other Shia rivals. With a track record such as the one Allawi has, it is unlikely that he will be permitted to sit on the Throne for long.
It is very clear that the 30 January elections are not going to bring peace and Allawi may even end up loosing the el;ections which would only go to show that the USA did not have a clue as to what is happening in Iraq.