Bush's Lost Iraqi Election

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy.../08/29/AR2007082901930.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Bush's Lost Iraqi Election

By David Ignatius
Thursday, August 30, 2007; Page A21

EXCERPT

Ayad Allawi, the former interim prime minister of Iraq, hinted in a television interview last weekend at one of the war's least understood turning points: America's decision not to challenge Iranian intervention in Iraq's January 2005 elections.

"Our adversaries in Iraq are heavily supported financially by other quarters. We are not," Allawi told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "We fought the elections with virtually no support whatsoever, except for Iraqis and the Iraqis who support us."

Behind Allawi's comment lies a tale of intrigue and indecision by the United States over whether to mount a covert-action program to confront Iran's political meddling. Such a plan was crafted by the Central Intelligence Agency and then withdrawn -- because of opposition from an unlikely coalition that is said to have included Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who was then House minority leader, and Condoleezza Rice, then national security adviser.

As recounted by former U.S. officials, the story embodies the mix of hubris and naivete that has characterized so much of the Iraq effort. From President Bush on down, U.S. officials enthused about Iraqi democracy while pursuing a course of action that made it virtually certain that Iran and its proxies would emerge as the dominant political force.

 

I remember how liberals brayed that Bush was controlling the election process in Iraq. Turns out he wasn't. Now they bray about the results of the elections.

Liberal, Bush hating second guessers and armchair quarterbacks get the benefit of hindsight and still get it wrong.