Word: allawi
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...insurgency, Allawi said, is overblown by Western media coverage - in fact, he claimed, it is confined to three out of Iraq's 18 provinces, and most of southern and northern Iraq is tranquil enough to hold elections tomorrow. He might want to check in with the British troops in the "tranquil" south he described, because they tell the BBC that last month alone one base at Amarrah suffered 853 separate attacks, the most frequent combat experienced by a British army unit since the Korean...
...More importantly, Allawi emphasized, Iraqis are determined to fight the insurgents, and take over from American troops. Some 100,000 have already been trained, and more are on the way. Again, this analysis is quite congruent with the picture painted by the Bush administration, but others, such as the widely respected strategic analyst Anthony Cordesman, who bases his work mostly on conversations with U.S. commanders on the ground, suggest that when it comes to effective combat units that can be deployed alongside U.S. forces, only two or three battalions of Iraqis pass muster - i.e. no more than 2,500 troops...
...Still, Allawi's presence lent important symbolic weight to the Bush administration's argument that it is in Iraq to help Iraqis free themselves. And his tough talk underscored the President's assurance on the campaign trail that Iraq now has a strong leader determined to tackle the insurgents...
...promising to hold the elections on schedule Allawi and Bush are opening themselves to a number of political risks. The United Nations has made clear that a credible election cannot be held under the current security conditions. Transforming the security situation will require a major military offensive between now and January, and General John Abizaid hinted in remarks on Capitol Hill Wednesday that securing an election would require more troops. In the best case scenario those would be newly-minted Iraqi troops or soldiers sent from other foreign countries, but he couldn't discount the possibility that more Americans...
...Security issues aside, holding an election also carries great political risk - for Allawi. Having no substantial domestic political base going into the job, it's far from clear that the prime minister would hold onto his office once Iraqis get to choose their leaders at the polling booth. One way around this problem being touted by those around Allawi is to put forward a single list of candidates among all of the parties involved in the provisional government. Such an arrangement would certainly improve Allawi's chances of making a good showing, although Sistani's having none...