Sure Can Pick em

In the February 23 Times JOHN F. BURNS and DEXTER FILKINS report that Ahmed Chalabi is no longer aiming to be Prime Minister. Now I find reflecting on the choice between Ibrahim al-Jaafari, an Islamist who wants family law for Moslem couples to be based on Sharia or Ahmed Chalabi who is Ahmed Chalabi is as pleasant as reflecting on the choice of Bush or Berlusconi. Still given the alliance between the secular Chalabi and Moqtada al Sadr, I am relieved.

However, not everyone is convinced that the endorsement of an alliance with 51% of the seats ends the matter. Now Ayad Allawi, who follo0wed Chalabi as the Bush administration's favorite Iraqi, is following Chalabi in questioning whether a mere election can over rule such an annointment. Recall his party came in 3rd with 14% of the vote. One might imagine that this would settle the matter, but Allawi is still trying to form a government.

Dr. Allawi predicted that settling the issue of who would lead the new government could take weeks, and hinted that the battle could be bitter. He said he had heard rumors that the alliance leaders had consulted with Iran's ruling ayatollahs, and had been told that Dr. Allawi, a secular Shiite with close ties to the United States that go back at least 15 years, would not be acceptable to Iran as prime minister in the new transitional government. "I have heard that they don't want me," he said. "Why, God knows."

The brazenness is impressive. This guy's party just won 14% of the vote and he claims that that is no problem, but that the problem is Iranian interference in the will of the Iraqi people as expressed through George W. Bush. Why would alliance leaders have asked Iranians if they could step aside and make a political rival who they just crushed in an election prime minister ? At least the 45 minutes claim (also due to Allawi) was plausible.

Why would Allawi say such a crazy thing ? JOHN F. BURNS and DEXTER FILKINS
violate the play dumb rule of objective journalism to explain

Any suggestion that Iran has played a role in the alliance's choice of prime minister would be politically explosive in Iraq, particularly among the Sunni minority population that was Iraq's traditional ruling group for decades until the overthrow of Mr. Hussein. That, in turn, could re-energize the Sunni-led insurgency that has paralyzed much of the country in the 23 months since the American-led invasion, blighting hopes that key Sunni groups with links to the insurgents - including tribal leaders who have met secretly with Dr. Allawi in recent months - might agree to help curb the insurgency and join the political process.

That is, they suggest that Allawi's claim to power is that, if he isn't given at least a share of power, he will make sure that the Sunni insurgency is very bloody.

This is two out of two. The first Iraqi chosen by the Bush administration clearly is motivated only by personal ambition to the extent that he is now allied with the murderous Moqtada al Sadr, one of America's worst enemies in Iraq and one of the blights on the Iraqi people. The second Iraqi chosen by the Bush administration appears to be threatening to form an alliance with the rest of America's worst enemies in Iraq. Again what is bad for the USA is bad for Iraq too.

I can only conclude that the most dangerous threat to the USA and Iraq is George Bush.