On the Iraqi Governing Council's choice for PM

Brahimi "respects" choice:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi "respects" the choice of Iyad Allawi, a Shi'ite Muslim, as Iraq's prime minister in the interim government that takes office on June 30, U.N. officials said on Friday.

But the officials hinted that Allawi's selection by the Iraqi Governing Council had come as a surprise to Brahimi, although they said Allawi was "high on his list" of choices. They said Brahimi had been present at the meeting at which the decision was made.

"Mr. Brahimi respects the decision and is prepared to work with this person on the selection of the other posts in this interim government," U.N. chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

The word "respects" had been "a carefully chosen word," Eckhard said, declining to say whether Brahimi "endorsed" Allwai or had helped choose him.

"The Iraqis named this person today, and Mr. Brahimi respects that decision and will work with that person to now name the other members of an Iraqi government," Eckhard told reporters, adding that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also respected the choice of Allawi.

"I assume this choice will hold, but the process isn't over yet," he added.

Eckhard acknowledged the process was not unrolling as the United Nations had envisioned but said such decisions were ultimately up to the Iraqi people and the U.S.-led Iraqi administration, the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Brahimi would now sit down with Allawi and discuss the other names that had emerged from his consultations with various Iraqis and the CPA, with an eye to choosing candidates for president, vice president and a Cabinet.

"But in the end, it is the CPA and the Governing Council that will make this decision," he said.

Looks like Brahimi was set up again and surrendered again. However I admit it would have been a bit difficult diplomatically to ignore a decision the Puppets at last do unanimously.

Meanwhile, I found this earlier denouncement of Allawi:

U.S. Iraq Appointee a Fraud and a Danger
Al Arab, Commentary,
Dr. Haifa Al-Azawi, Feb 12, 2004

When I returned to the United States after a visit to Baghdad, I read an article from the Associated Press titled “Exile Works to Win Influence in DC,” by Ken Guggenheim. It described how Iyad Allawi, now a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi governing Council, was emerging as a prominent leader.

Guggenheim reported Allawi has paid prominent Washington lobbyists and New York publicists more than $300,000 to help him make contacts with policy makers in Washington.

Any physician who graduated from Baghdad Medical School between the years l962 and l970 will remember this big, husky man. The Baath party union leader, who carried a gun on his belt and frequently brandished it terrorizing the medical students, was a poor student and chose to spend his time standing in the school courtyard or chasing female students to their homes.

When I entered medical school, Iyad Allawi was a student there and when I graduated he was still a student there. He tried to form a political party and, according to some friends of his, he faked names to make the party seem larger than it really was. His medical degree is bogus and was conferred upon him by the Baath party, soon after a WHO (World Health Organization) grant was orchestrated for him to go to England and study public health accompanied by his Christian wife, whom he dumped later to marry a Muslim woman.

In England he was a poor student, visiting the Iraqi embassy at the end of each month to collect his salary as the Baath party representative. According to his first wife and her family members, he spent his time dealing with assassins doing the dirty work for the Iraqi government, until his time was up and he became their target.

He went into hiding and came back as a double agent for the British and the CIA. Now, analysts have suggested that Allawi’s campaign might have been encouraged to counterbalance the influence of the much better known opposition figure Ahmed Chalabi. By the way, they are cousins.

These kinds of people can put our U.S. government and our troops in bad positions and in danger. Laura Myroie, author of "Bush vs. the Beltway," and critical of the CIA handling of Iraq, blamed Allawi for what she said was faulty intelligence that endangered the U.S. troops at the end of the Gulf War. The United States plans to turn over power to Iraqis by July 1. We are all hoping to see reasonable, honest people in power; we do not want to see another potential Saddam.

I admit, a reference to Laurie Mylroie doesn't raise the author's credibility.