SACRIFICING ALLAWI'S LEGITIMACY FOR BUSH'S ELECTORAL GAIN

From the Washington Post:

The unusual public-relations effort by the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development comes as details have emerged showing the U.S. government and a representative of President Bush's reelection campaign had been heavily involved in drafting the speech given to Congress last week by interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Combined, they indicate that the federal government is working assiduously to improve Americans' opinions about the Iraq conflict -- a key element of Bush's reelection message.

This is interesting because up until now the White House had been denying involvement in the creation of Allawi's speech in Washington. This is also interest because up until now Bush and his surrogates have chastised Kerry and Democrats about their criticisms of Allawi and his speech, namely that he seemed like "a puppet" (as Kerry staffer Joe Lockhart said).

But of course, it is a friday, and it is the day after the big debate, so no time like the present to sneak out some bad news and hope nobody notices.

Al Franken was talking about this earlier today on Air America, and said the following, in his characteristic deadpan:

You know who I wouldn't tell about this? The Iraqi people.

Agreed. Allawi's legitimacy (and by extension, the legitimacy of the Iraqi government) hinges on perceptions that he (and it) is independent from direct American influence. The Bushies may have just shattered those perceptions, thus fucking up our chances at long-term success in Iraq, in the interest of his short-term success in America, vis a vis the November election.

A while back (I'm too lazy now), I wrote a post genuinely complimenting the Bush administration for the "kabuki dance" they conducted to make Allawi appear independent of America when he was settled upon as the choice for interim Iraqi president. By writing his friggin DC speech, they may have undone that effort. Fuck, are these people unserious or what. Get Kerry in there NOW.