Allawi to Address Hill , U.N. as White House Defends Policy

[Rose Siding]

Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi will address a joint session of Congress and make high-profile appearances in Washington next week, a debut visit to the United States that the Bush administration will make the centerpiece of a vigorous election-year defense of its troubled Iraq policy, according to U.S. officials.

The visit by Iraq's charismatic interim leader, who will also speak to the U.N. General Assembly and be part of a sustained media effort, could provide a boost to President Bush's campaign by reframing the controversial U.S. intervention in Iraq in terms of accomplishments rather than problems, U.S. officials said. Allawi is expected to emphasize the transformation of Iraq since the ouster of former President Saddam Hussein, to thank the United States on behalf of the Iraqi people and to appeal for ongoing support to complete the job, they said.

At the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly, Allawi intends to call for an end to the divisions over Iraq at the world body and appeal for greater international support for Iraq as it goes through three elections and writes a new constitution over the next 16 months, U.S. officials said. The new government wants a larger U.N. presence to facilitate the crucial votes and help with providing security for the U.N. staff, which has been targeted by insurgents in the past.

The Allawi visit comes amid growing public concern about the escalating insurgency in Iraq and mounting congressional criticism from both Republicans and Democrats over the year-long delay in getting $18 billion into reconstruction projects, which is pivotal in countering anti-American sentiment and a key to reviving Iraq.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24579-2004Sep15.html?nav=rss_politics

[otohara]

1. CIA Operative to Addresss Congress

it's safer here - I'd leave Iraq too if I were him.

[saigon68]

6. What the Hell happened to Bremer's NEW FLAG ???

WHERE DID IT GO?

[jumpstart33]

2. I would be afraid to be in the same room with this man.

He may even have a hell of a time getting back into Iraq.

[daleo]

3. I wonder if he will get back into Iraq too

Look at what happened to the Chalabis and Sistani when they left for a bit. When the cats away...

Not that I personally would want Allawi to get back in.

[teryang]

4. Charismatic killer?

That's a new one. I understand that like Saddam he likes the personal touch in political murders.

[leftchick]

10. That struck me as well....

putting lipstick on a pig I guess. They certainly aren't fooling any Iraqis with this thug of a puppet.

[0007]

12. A visit by Iraq's charismatic interim leader will be cause for all America

to rejoice and sing Christian songs and have big parades.

My mind's eye can see it now. Allawi standing in front of a big cross and leading us in prayer.

[Eye and Monkey]

5. He's a punching puppet

[saigon68]

7. Will he wear his towel and fan-belt?

Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim President Ghazi al-Yawar listens to reporters' questions during a joint news conference with NATO (news - web sites) Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels September 14, 2004. REUTERS/Thierry Roge

[thebigidea]

8. wrong stooge - this is the one with "kindly grandpa" glasses

presumably to soften his image or something.

[xxqqqzme]

9. the squatter dog & pony show starring

the Iraqi puppet.

This on the heels of Kofi's pronouncement of the illegality of the invasion.

[Disturbed]

11. Most Americans have been fooled..

to beleive that Iraq has sovereignty and a Govt. This is merely an extention of the US Puppets and so will a bogus election if it ever comes about. Most Iraqis know that they are being colonized.

The Hand-Over That Wasn't: Illegal Orders give the US a Lock on Iraq's Economy
by Antonia Juhasz

Officially, the U.S. occupation of Iraq ended on June 28, 2004. But in reality, the United States is still in charge: Not only do 138,000 troops remain to control the streets, but the "100 Orders" of L. Paul Bremer III remain to control the economy.

These little noticed orders enacted by Bremer, the now-departed head of the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, go to the heart of Bush administration plans in Iraq. They lock in sweeping advantages to American firms, ensuring long-term U.S. economic advantage while guaranteeing few, if any, benefits to the Iraqi people.

The Bremer orders control every aspect of Iraqi life - from the use of car horns to the privatization of state-owned enterprises. Order No. 39 alone does no less than "transition from a … centrally planned economy to a market economy" virtually overnight and by U.S. fiat.

Although many thought that the "end" of the occupation would also mean the end of the orders, on his last day in Iraq Bremer simply transferred authority for the orders to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi - a 30-year exile with close ties to the CIA and British intelligence.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0805-07.htm

[Just Me]

13. So, we get to hear some more neocon "talking points",...

,...which have become more irritable to me than any broken record or screeching chalkboard.

[dArKeR]

14. I can see at least one Blackwater mercenary (left middle top.)

Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, center, talk to officers as he pays a visit to the new police recruits at the Police Academy in Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites), Thursday Sept. 16, 2004. He urged them to serve Iraq faithfully and fight hard to get rid of the insurgents who have unleashed a reign of terror in Iraq. (AP Photo/Samir Mizban, POOL)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040916/481/bag11109160927

[Barrett808]

15. Fukuyama: "living in a total fantasyland"

The U.S. strategy in Iraq is "extremely unrealistic," Francis Fukuyama, a foreign policy expert, said at a symposium on Iraq at Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday. He was especially critical of the plan to rely increasingly on Iraqi security forces and to hold nationwide elections in just a few months. "I think that anybody who believes they are going to be able to execute this plan is living in a total fantasyland," he said.

[desiindian]

16. Ha Ha..Iraq is burning and this guy is in DC & NY

enjoying his company with BushCo.

[saigon68]

17. ANOTHER NEOCON PUPPET

I wonder if he will sit on President R. Cheney's knee.

Like the other Puppet--- THE AWOL CHIMPANZEE