Ayad Allawi’s Comeback Plan

Former Iraqi Prime Minister and CIA asset Ayad Allawi kicks his campaign up a notch to get restored to the premier’s office in an op-ed for the *Washington Post*, in which he outlines a plan for Iraq.
What’s the plan? (Other than returning Allawi to power, of course.) First: fawn over the United States as having little blame for the problems in Iraq. Second, harshly criticize Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for sectarianism and being unable to organize a two-car parade. (Totally justified charges, by the way.) Three: Know which way the political winds in Washington are blowing and suggest a withdrawal of American troops over the next two years and a change in mission before that.
After that, it’s mostly details. Declare a state of emergency in Iraq (which was pretty much the *status quo* under Allawi) and absorb the various Sunni and Shi’ite militias into the security forces. Allawi comes out strongly against a loose confederation model for Iraq and praises the Kurds for their democracy. It’s an op-ed long on verbiage, but short on specifics. Just how will he incorporate the militias into a non-sectarian command structure? How will he “empower local and provincial institutions at the expense of sectarian politics and an all-powerful and overbearing Baghdad”? No clue. One of the few specifics: The ex-Ba’athist calls for the reversal of the de-Ba’athification law.
[Here you can read an interview I did with Allawi while he was still in office back in 2004.
](https://www.back-to-iraq.com/2004/08/a_chat_with_iyad_allawi.php)