Allawi owns a Baghdad newspaper---is already propagandizing...

Found this tidbit at the very end of the article............


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5293581

Allawi Faces Uphill Struggle to Win Over Iraqis
Sat May 29, 2004 11:56 AM ET



By Abdel-Razzak Hameed

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iyad Allawi faces an uphill struggle to convince fellow Iraqis he is the right man to lead the country to free elections next year -- particularly as many say they know nothing about him.

Allawi, a secular Shi'ite who opposed Saddam Hussein from exile, was named as transitional prime minister on Friday.

He has no political mass movement to back him and has largely stayed out of the limelight. Some Iraqis, suspicious of returned exiles, consider this a reason to distrust him. Many simply say they have never heard of him.

Others are wary of him because of his past links to Saddam's Baath Party and to former army officers -- although for some this makes him a good candidate for the job.

SNIP

But a newspaper owned by Allawi, called Baghdad, said in its Saturday edition the appointment was widely welcomed.

Its front-page article began: "A large number of the sons of Iraq expressed their joy at the appointment of Dr Iyad Allawi." (Additional reporting by Hamid Fadhil in Samawa, Fadel Badran in Falluja, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Najaf, Seb Walker in Arbil, Maher al-Thanoon in Mosul and Mussab al-Khairalla in Baghdad)

Does it ever end?

This admin. has a piece in everything!

I'm Your Puppet

Written by: Linden Oldham/Dan Penn
Performed by: Marvin Gaye



Pull the string and I'll wink at you, I'm your puppet
I'll do funny things if you want me to, I'm your puppet

I'll be yours to have and to hold
Darling you've got full control of your puppet

Pull another string and I'll kiss your lips, I'm your puppet
Snap your finger and I'll turn you some flips, I'm your puppet

Your every wish is my command
All you gotta do is wiggle your little hand
I'm your puppet, I'm your puppet

I'm just a toy, just a funny boy
That makes you laugh when you're blue
I'll be wonderful, do just what I'm told
I'll do anything for you
I'm your puppet, I'm your puppet

Pull them little strings and I'll sing you a song, I'm your puppet
Make me do right or make me do wrong, I'm your puppet

Treat me good and I'll do anything
I'm just a puppet an you hold my string, I'm your puppet
Yeah, I'm your puppet

Walking, talking, living, loving puppet
I'm hanging on a string girl, I'll do anything now

I'm a walking, talking, living, loving puppet, and I love you

I'm a smiling happy face when you want me to
Even make you happy when you're feeling blue

run the media, run the country.

The two certainly go hand in hand.

We all need to remember EVERY setback Bushco has had lately is the result of the vestiges of the free press that this country is supposed to have.

Every single one of them.

Can you imagine the Pres. of the USA owning a Newspaper? This guy is in essence the Pres. of Iraq for now, right? I still don't understand what sort of Govt. of Iraq is. A Prime Minister, a Pres. and two VPs. Will this Govt. have a Legislative body? This sure seems like a puppet Govt. to me.



Full Sovereignty?
Throughout the spring, as hundreds died in the spiraling conflict, as Regime bosses applied their hardcore "anti-terrorist" tortures to innocent bystanders raked up in their occupation nets, as Regime mouthpieces prated endlessly of "liberation" and "sovereignty," Bush viceroy Paul Bremer was quietly signing a series of edicts that will give the United States effective control over the military, ministries -- and money -- of any Iraqi government, for years to come, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Bremer has placed U.S.-appointed "commissions" made up of Americans and local puppets throughout Iraqi government agencies; the ministers supposedly in charge weren't even told of the edicts. These boards "will serve multiyear terms and have significant authority to run criminal investigations, award contracts, direct troops and subpoena citizens," the Journal reports. Any new Iraqi government "will have little control over its armed forces, lack the ability to make or change laws and be unable to make major decisions within specific ministries without tacit U.S. approval, say U.S. officials."


"Earlier Bremer edicts laid the Iraqi economy wide open to ruthless exploitation by Bush-approved foreign "investors"; dominance of such key sectors as banking, communications -- and energy -- is already well advanced. The latest dictates aim to ensure that this organized looting goes on, no matter what kind of makeshift "interim government" the United Nations manage to piece together. Bush's plans to build a Saddamite fortress embassy in Baghdad and 14 permanent military bases around the country are designed to provide the knee-breaking "security" for these lucrative arrangements."



http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/05/21/120.html

http://www.iraq-today.com/article.php?id=3&sp=&searchstring=§ion=7

BAGHDAD - In a move that has sparked a debate over press freedom in Iraq, the Governing Council (GC) has barred Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya from press conferences and its ministries for two weeks, citing the networks of inciting violence against them. The GC has described the controversial move a decision that is "no less democratic than that of British authorities, which restricted the UK media in its reporting of the IRA for twelve years."

As a result the GC has denied the networks' access to Ministers, ministries and GC members for two weeks. Neither Arabia, nor Al Jazeera may attend press conferences, speak to ministers or take part in other public press events. Just days after the fatal attack on council member Aqila al Hashimi, the shutout is the latest twist in the battle of wills between the GC and the Arabic news channels. The tussle began in full with the council's very public criticisms of the satellite channels as they were being sworn-in in July.
Ayad Allawi, GC member and head of Iraqi National Accord, pointed to the increasing wave of al Jazeera's and Arabiya's reports showing groups calling for the restoration of the former regime. Allawi criticised footage of kafiya-clad groups threatening to attack the GC members. That footage, the council claimed, compelled them to issue a "protective measure". "We found some satellite channels that incited the killing of GC members," Allawi said. "They < al Jazeera and Arabiya> show groups with masks saying they worked for a certain side and threatened to do terrorist actions. These channels forgot the fact that the GC is composed of political forces that struggled against a horrible dictatorship and gave many martyrs."

Allawi also referred to the distorted reporting of the channels as another reason for the shutout. "They spoke of a Sunni triangle, which is a fictional term created.to metamorphose Iraqi society," Allawi said. The GC said that the decision to stop "these channels undermining Iraqi dignity."

The decision has opened the GC to all manner of questions ranging from its openness before the Iraqi public to an outright censorship. In no small irony, channels like the BBC, CNN and others have been known to pick up coverage of al Jazeera and Arabiya. The GC said it intends to be the protector of democracy in Iraq, a factor that encouraged it to make the decision.

"We dismantled the ministry of information to keep up Iraq's commitment to progress with democracy," said Allawi.

"Iraq's commitment to progress with democracy," said Allawi.

I would love to read what his person's concept of "democracy" is.