Full Circle

Oh, those Republicans you never know WHAT they'll come up with next:

A powerhouse Republican lobbying firm with close ties to the White House has begun a public campaign to undermine the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, CNN has confirmed...

A senior Bush administration official told CNN the White House is aware of the lobbying campaign by Barbour Griffith & Rogers because the firm is "blasting e-mails all over town" criticizing al-Maliki and promoting the firm's client, former interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, as an alternative to the current Iraqi leader.

Ah yes, Ayad "Six Shots to the Noggin John Gibson!" Allawi. Surely this is the man with the popular mandate to bring Iraq together. The man's party got a truly inspiring less than 14% of those Shiias who turned up to vote.

Although Allawi's list is among the three with more than two digits, in fact he lost big. Allawi had all the advantages of incumbency. He dominated the air waves in December and January. He went to Baghdad University and made all sorts of promises to the students there and it was dutifully broadcast, and there were lots of photo ops like that. Allawi's list also spent an enormous amount on campaign advertising. The source of these millions is unknown, since Paul Bremer passed a law making disclosure of campaign contributions unnecessary (the Bush administration's further little contribution to "democracy" in the Middle East). Despite these enormous advantages, clear American backing, money, etc., Allawi's list came in a poor third and clearly lacks any substantial grass roots in most of the country. It seems to have been the refuge of what is left of the secular middle class.

Allawi's defeat (he will not be prime minister in the new government) is a huge defeat for the Bush administration, though it will not be reported that way in the corporate media.

A truly unliked leader, an American agent, and cold-blooded killer made into a dictator.

Good thing we'd never done that before in Iraq!

So after 3,724 deaths, 27,000 American Casualties; half-a-trillion dollars (off budget ... and counting); two million refugees (and exploding) and somewhere between 100,000 and 1 million extra deaths of those we came to "liberate" from the grip of a dictator we have come to this...

Creating a dictator and an unpopular one (but who is allowed to write Op-Eds [or have them written] by Fred "Me Wrong?" Hiatt to help his unpopular cause). Only this dictator will end up being one we also won't like eventually...but Iran will love.

So pretty much the opposite of the whole fucking goal at the time the enterprise started.

And they'll call it "Mission Accomplished".