Lest We Forget: Allawi, the Terrorist

Last June the now interim prime minister of Iraq and the U.S. puppet, Iyad Allawi, summarily executed 6 men in an Iraqi police station in the presence of about a dozen people. His reason: to send a clear message about how he would deal with insurgents.

A prominent Iraqi-British neurologist and Iraqi political activist, Allawi is a Shia Muslim. He set up and leads the CIA-supported Iraqi National Accord which carried out bombings during the reign of Saddam Hussein. The INA provided intelligence about alleged WMD to the British MI6.

Seymour Hersh quotes former CIA officer Vincent Cannistraro: "[...] Allawi has blood on his hands from his days in London [...] he was a paid Mukhabarat agent for the Iraqis, and he was involved in dirty stuff." A Middle Eastern diplomat confirmed that Allawi was involved with a Mukhabarat "hit team" that killed Baath Party dissenters in Europe.

Allawi was recruited by the CIA in 1992 as a counterpoint to the more well-known CIA asset Ahmed Chalabi. Allawi's INA organised terrorist attacks in Iraq between 1992 and 1995, allegedly including the bombing of a cinema and a school bus that killed school children.

Beginning in 2003, Allawi paid prominent Washington lobbyists and New York publicity agents more than $300,000 to give him access to Washington policy-makers and journalists. The funds passed through his ally in the UK, Masal Nawab. Allawi channelled the report from an Iraqi officer claiming that Iraq could deploy its supposed WMD within "45 minutes" to British Intelligence. This claim was cited when the British government used the information to gain public support for the war. Bush used the information in his State of the Union address to further his rationale for the rush to war.

Allawi is related to Ahmed Chalabi, another prominent former exile and now disgraced U. S. ally, through his sister. The interim minister of trade Ali Allawi is Chalabi's sister's son as well as Iyad Allawi's cousin.

Ann Garrels said on The Al Franken Show yesterday that Allawi is holed up in a highly guarded residence and cannot go out safely. In July a $285,000 reward was offered for anyone who could kill Allawi. Iraq is an extremely dangerous place and there is no end in sight. How will elections be possible? No one can go out from wherever they are hiding to campaign. It won't be possible for the Iraqi people to go to the polls without fear of being killed. This is a failed country.


Yesterday President Bush sat with this terrible man and indicated that we are all indebted to his fine work in Iraq. Bush keeps company with violent men and legitimatzes them by his association and support of them.

Is this right?

[Click on the blog title to go to the truthout.org article which relates to this blog post.]