"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" -Oscar Wilde |
"The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." -- Proverbs 11:25 |
...In that speech, I will focus on the Middle East and why the rise of a free and democratic Iraq is critical to the future of this vital region and to our Nation's security.
[snip]
As security improves, more Iraqis are stepping forward to defend their democracy.
Former interim Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi, who is trying to put together a new coalition to replace the current Baghdad government headed by Nouri al-Maliki, said yesterday that a powerful Washington lobbying firm is working on his behalf, funded by an Iraqi whom he cannot identify.
Allawi confirmed on CNN's "Late Edition" yesterday that Barbour Griffith & Rogers had been hired "to help us advocate our views, the views of the nationalistic Iraqis, the nonsectarian Iraqis."
Allawi said reports that Barbour Griffith is to receive $300,000 over six months are accurate, "but that these figures are really much less than the figures that are being paid by others, our adversaries."
Asked the source of the funds, Allawi said, "I cannot unfortunately divulge his name," adding: "He is a supporter of our program."
there is clearly a coordinated effort by much of official Washington to essentially stage a coup in Iraq by trying to oust Maliki. The first sign was the coordinated emergence of news reports of significant tensions between Maliki and Official Washington's savior, Gen. Petraeus. Soon thereafter, President Bush, in a news conference, issued swaggering, tough guy threats to Maliki due to Maliki's increasingly friendly posture with Iran.
That signaled the start of official Washington's imperial campaign to replace the Iraqi leader. Awad Allawi found his way onto Fred Hiatt's Editorial Page to proclaim the problems in Iraq to be Maliki's fault. Carl Levin then meets with Allawi during his very probing two-day trip to Iraq, returns to Washington, and dutifully demands that Maliki be replaced. The next day, Hillary Clinton follows suit. Seemingly overnight, conventional bipartisan wisdom in the Beltway empire is that it is time to oust the Iraqi Prime Minister and replace him with someone more to our liking (whether that means less friendly to the Iranians or less hostile to our new friends the Sunni insurgents or simply more hospitable to our dictates).
Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday the Iraqi Parliament should replace embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with a "less divisive and more unifying figure" to reconcile political and religious factions.
Labels: Bush Administration, corruption, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, lies