The Washington Monthly

January 3, 2009

ALLAWI'S UNIMPRESSED.... Remember Iyad Allawi? The U.S.-installed former Iraqi Prime Minister? He was asked to reflect on George W. Bush, and according to a Reuters report, described the president's policies as an "utter failure" that ultimately helped create the sectarian violence that ravaged Iraq.

In an interview published on Saturday in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Allawi found fault with American management of Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 as well as the government of present Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Allawi ruled Iraq for almost a year after U.S. occupation officials handed power to him in 2004 as prime minister of an interim government. He was selected by a council hand-picked by Washington after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

"Yes, Bush's policies failed utterly," said Allawi, describing the U.S. administration that once backed him. "Utter failure. Failure of U.S. domestic and foreign policy, including fighting terrorism and economic policy."

"His insistence on names like 'democracy' and 'open elections', without giving attention to political stability, was a big mistake. It cast shadows on Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt, and I believe this will be remembered in history as President Bush's policy," he said.

This is the same Allawi that Bush described as a man of "leadership" and "courage," and a "friend" of his.

I guess Allawi was less impressed.

—Steve Benen 11:00 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (11)

Comments

the historical chickens are coming home to roost ...

Posted by: sjw on January 3, 2009 at 11:17 AM | PERMALINK

welcome to the club, iyad.

Posted by: mellowjohn on January 3, 2009 at 11:32 AM | PERMALINK

I see the Legacy Project is in full effect. Bush should have awarded him some sort of presidential medal or made sure Cheney awarded one of his sons or nephews a lucrative no-bid contract.

Posted by: Winkandanod on January 3, 2009 at 11:40 AM | PERMALINK

Well, Bush's Iraq policies weren't a TOTAL FAILURE

We did steal their oil, didn't we ?
Wasn't that the whole point ?

I think Bush's neo-cons said 'the road to Jerusalem leads through Iraq'

Looks like that worked out, too
The longer you delay peace, the more land Israel can grab

Posted by: MSierra, SF on January 3, 2009 at 11:41 AM | PERMALINK

This is how an old classmate, (Dr. Haifa al-Azawi), remembers Allawi:

Any physician who graduated from Baghdad Medical School between the years 1962 and 1970 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.

Pretty harsh when this guy calls you a failure.

Posted by: Danp on January 3, 2009 at 11:44 AM | PERMALINK

Allawi should be asked if his ire toward Bush would warrant a shoe throwing incident! -Kevo

Posted by: kevo on January 3, 2009 at 12:22 PM | PERMALINK

Is it raining yet?

Could have been worse...
Could have called him a miserable failure.

Posted by: koreyel on January 3, 2009 at 12:25 PM | PERMALINK

This is the same Iyad Allawi who basically campaigned for Bush in 2004, giving a speech at the UN (written by Bush aides) talking about how we were winning in Iraq.

What a tool. He could have spoken the truth and helped us get rid of Bush back then, but I guess he only speaks the truth when it can't hurt his career.

Posted by: Existenz on January 3, 2009 at 1:51 PM | PERMALINK

He could have spoken the truth and helped us get rid of Bush back then

Kinda like all those neo-cons. It was a great idea, but Bush screwed it up by insisting on the appearance of democracy. If you listen to Allawi carefully, that's his problem. He thinks Bush should have cut the pretenses and merely appointed him dictator. A vast majority of neo-con critics would agree. They wanted, after all, to simply appoint Chalabi to the post.

Posted by: Danp on January 3, 2009 at 2:25 PM | PERMALINK

While Allawi's condemnation of Bush happens to coincide with my own, the stench of sour grapes is much too strong for me to accept his opinions on merit..

Posted by: exlibra on January 3, 2009 at 4:04 PM | PERMALINK

"the historical chickens are coming home to roost ..."

Do you suppose they'll come home to roost on the hysterical chickenhawks?

Posted by: azportsider on January 3, 2009 at 9:16 PM | PERMALINK

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