I Wanna Be Your Nguyen Khanh

What was Iyad Allawi's Post op-ed yesterday trying to say? It's like it's written in a slightly strange foreign language. Andrew Sullivan says he's asking Bush to help him engineer a coup, but that's not the sort of message I would try to communicate on an op-ed page. He does, however, clearly call for "change at the top of the Iraqi government and also try to pitch whatever it is he's pitching to moderate Democrats as well, promising "the withdrawal of the majority of U.S. forces over the next two years, and that, before then, gradually and substantially reduces the U.S. combat role."

I hope this kind of mucking around is too crazy for anyone to seriously consider. That said, a lot of people's approach to Iraq is just decide in advance that giving up isn't an option, so we need to try literally anything -- possibly including this -- before we admit we need to get out.

Comments

I think Iran and the U.S. should cuts cards for Iraq. Or maybe rock-paper-scissors.

Posted by steve duncan | August 20, 2007 8:39 AM

Khan is actually a Central Asian term. You could probably use the old Ottoman "pasha."

Posted by Brian Ulrich | August 20, 2007 8:42 AM

Matt's just misspelling Nguyen Khanh.

I think he actually means Duong Van Minh, as he was the driving force behind the first coup that overthrew Ngo Dinh Diem.

Posted by tequila | August 20, 2007 9:36 AM

I think Matt is comparing Allawi to Ricardo Montalbán in Star Trek II. It would explain why we are still in Iraq. Allawi dropped Ceti eels in the ears of 2/3 of Congress on their junkets to Iraq. You see, their young enter through the ears and wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex. This has the effect of rendering the victim extremely susceptible to suggestion. Later as they grow follows madness and death. What else could explain O'Hanlon continuing credibility? The madness and death in Iraq, of course, is ongoing.

Posted by joejoejoe | August 20, 2007 10:02 AM

How stupid would you have to be to want to lead Iraq these days?

Posted by Reality Man | August 20, 2007 11:37 AM

"How stupid would you have to be to want to lead Iraq these days?"

He's probably seeing how the bank accounts of some of his friends in the Iraqi government are ballooning.

After all, the US is increasing military signup bonus payments to 20 thousand dollars or so, and getting some takers. How much risk is it worth for a year or so to have a fairly good chance at, say, a billion dollars in the bank?

Now, if he thinks he can be the savior of the nation that was Iraq, that's crazy.

Posted by blatherskite | August 20, 2007 11:58 AM

Allawi does have his good points. He's ex-CIA (or not ex-) and as the BBC said in May 2004: "He has the advantage as prime minister - to paraphrase one commentator - of being equally mistrusted by everyone".

Posted by Don Bacon | August 20, 2007 12:41 PM

Not to be an annoying editor type or anything, but "Nguyen" is pronounced win, which is not even close to neo and so sort of undercuts the jokey wordplay.

Posted by Nag | August 20, 2007 7:16 PM