Allawi apprehensive about new Iraq (a shockingly accurate prediction on Iraq's future)

Washington Post ^ | February 18, 2005 | David Ignatius

[jmc1969]

Ayad Allawi says he dreamed for years of two things -- toppling Saddam Hussein and establishing a democracy in Iraq. As an opposition leader and then interim prime minister, he helped achieve both goals. But as he prepares to leave office, Allawi worries that his country remains on the edge of a precipice.

[newfreep]

Thanks - does this tagline appear automatically with each post I do?

[Gideon Reader]

Read what you wrote.
After they were free of Saddam they killed each other by the tens of thousands for years.
Huh?
Whatever. ;~)

[jmc1969]

You might not know this, but the Kurds were freed from Saddam after the 1991 Gulf War.

After they were freed they fought bitterly for years.

[kanawa]

Thanks - does this tagline appear automatically with each post I do?

Yep, the site software remembers it and automatically puts it in the tagline box.
You can erase it or change it before posting.

[TexKat]

The Madhi Army is not going to stop killing neither are the Badr, the Iranians, or al-Qaeda.

You are definitely correct in that. May God soon shine his love and mercy on Iraq and the innocent Iraqi people.

[McGavin999]

There are two Kurdish factions. They fought bitterly until just before the US went into Iraq. They were also protected for 10 years by the no-fly zones and had US advisors who helped them to build a democracy.

[Gideon Reader]

You might not know this but the "no fly" zone prevented the Iraqi air force from attacking them from the air. However, they were continually beleagured by armor and infantry and other small unit actions hostile to them, after G.H.W.Bush and certainly Clinton's Nazi General Shalishkalvilli essentially abandoned them, in the pullout AFTER the Desert Storm punch up.

I perceive that you have a problem with the Kurds, and that is OK too, but they need to receive all the encouragement they can to do what the remainder of the corrupt sects of Iraq refuse to do.

The best to you each morning, or something. :~)

[jmc1969]

I have no problem with the Kurds.

I am just telling you that the Kurds went through a very violent period after being freed from Saddam's yoke after the first Gulf War and it took many years for them to learn to work together to build a better future for their people.

The rest of Iraq is going through the same thing.

[Rutles4Ever]

The cleavages in Iraq run too deep. You've got the Kurds in the north, who are "doing just fine now, thank you", you've got Al-Sadr in the South running Mogadishu 2.0, and the Sunnis in Baghdad are busy getting killed left, right, and center by Al Qaeda, the Shiites, and whoever else wants in. Meanwhile, we've got Iran and Syria continuing to stoke the fire from either direction, and Turkey who will take action against the Kurds if a partition takes place.

From a purely politically scientific standpoint, this is f'd up.

[Rutles4Ever]

So, in essence, a "do over"? This could have been accomplished with a single bullet to the head of Saddam Hussein.

I highly doubt this, because IF it came to pass, George W. Bush may (rightly or wrongly) go down as one of the worst presidents this country has ever seen. It would be better to just pull out, if this is their strategy.

Sounds like something cooked up in a foreign policy class.

[ChiefJayStrongbow]

When you have car-bombs going off all around you, I don't think it matters to the man-in-the-street whether or not they live in a democracy, a republic, or any other form of government.

The Iraqi government needs to publicly execute anyone that is fomenting insurrection or even remotely connected with the insurgents. They also need to publicly confront Iran and Syria for their roles in the insurgency. Until the Iraqi government takes a stronger stand and quashes the insurgency, it won't matter to the everyday Iraqi citizen who declares themselves to be in charge.

[McGavin999]

Well, I agree but it will take someone like Allawi to accomplish that. Maliki can't stand up to the pressure.

[Marine_Uncle]

"the problem with that is that the US allowed the Iraqi government to control the Iraqi Electoral Process and it allowed them to count the votes by themselves. The IEC was nothing but a Sadr/Hakim controlled farce."
FReepers must not forget the mechanics that allowed this fiasco to come into play. Some of us must continue to bring out the underlining problems that could have been avoided.
The US DOS has to accept blame for allowing things to have worked out as they had. It could as you suggested a number of times, been different. Now they are locked into a loss/loss situation. The people cannot vote for a candidate.

[MinorityRepublican]

4 years later, it has happened.

[Republic of Texas]

They are Muslims. They’ll choose option 2 every time.

[r9etb]

It's an interesting thread.

We see one guy who supported the Joe Biden "Three Iraqs" theory -- turned out he was totally wrong.

jmc1969 looks pretty good, in retrospect.

[MinorityRepublican]

Wrong. We needed to have a presence in Iraq, listed at # two due to their reserves of oil.

Now can you imagine what Saddam would do in Iraq if he was still alive? Especially with Obama as our President?