Tall Tales

The Iyad Allawi circus act has left town but it wasn't the credibility boost that Mr. Bush wanted; Allawi's rosy pronouncements only emphasized the glaring inconsistencies of Bush's claims when held to the harsh light of the truth.

As Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart said, "The last thing you want to be seen as is a puppet of the United States, and you can almost see the hand underneath the shirt today moving the lips".

Yet a puppet is what Mr. Allawi sounded like, because his statements in several instances were word for word, exactly those of Mr. Bush's.

I can understand Mr. Allawi's motivation for parroting his benefactor; without the backing of American firepower, he doesn't stand a chance against the growing insurgency in Iraq.

But he didn't improve his credibility with his people and the rest of the international community with statements that don't stand up to scrutiny. Here is a guy who says that 15 of the 18 provinces in Iraq are safe yet conducts business behind a fort guarded by tanks.

Baghdad Burning is a journal written by a young lady who lives the horror of war in Baghdad everyday. This is what she had to say about their interim Prime Minister:

I can't seem to decide what is worse- when Bush speaks in the name of Iraqi people, or when Allawi does...He stood there groveling in front of the congress- thanking them for the war, the occupation and the thousands of Iraqi lives lost... and he did it all on behalf of the Iraqi people. It was infuriating and for maybe the hundredth time this year, I felt rage.

...Allawi actually said "thank you" nine times. Nine times. It really should have been more- at least double that number of Iraqis died yesterday... and about five times that number the day before. Looking back on the last month alone,over 350 Iraqis have been killed either by American air strikes, fighting, or bombs... only 9 thank yous?

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