France's Official Organ Disses Ayad Allawi (and Iraq's Suffering in the Process…)

Le Monde's article on Ayad Allawi's visit to Washington begins thus:

Ayad Allawi, head of the interim Iraqi government, behaved as an electoral agent of George W. Bush's Thursday Septrember 23, in Washington. Before the Congress, then during a press conference in the White House, and in a television interview, he lauded the American president, he repeated all the Republicans' arguments to justify the war, and he accused the media of "giving oxygen to the terrorists" by exaggerrating the importance of the insurrection.

Mr Allawi's visit was nothing other than an episode in the presidential campaign. …

And with that, the independent newspaper sweeps away any credibility not only of the visit, but of the character and independence of Iraq's president.

What Patrick Jarreau is saying, basically, is that unless you lambaste America, Dubya, and the fighting in Iraq, your credibility should be put into question. This harks back to the good ol' "anybody who does not oppose Washington is simple-minded, stupid, callous, and treacherous, and a poodle, a traitor, and a Judas who would do better to keep quiet."

Here is one quote Le Monde failed to pick up:

Like almost every Iraqi, I have many friends who were murdered, tortured or raped by the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Here is another quote, sight unseen inside the independent newspaper which is always babbling on about political solutions to terrorist problems:

I am a realist. I know that terrorism cannot be defeated with political tools only. But we can weaken it, ending local support, help us to tackle the enemy head-on, to identify, isolate and eradicate this cancer.

Let me provide you with a couple of examples of where this political plan already is working.

In Samarra, the Iraqi government has tackled the insurgents who once controlled the city.

Following weeks of discussions between government officials and representatives, coalition forces and local community leaders, regular access to the city has been restored. A new provincial council and governor have been selected, and a new chief of police has been appointed. Hundreds of insurgents have been pushed out of the city by local citizens, eager to get with their lives.

Today in Samarra, Iraqi forces are patrolling the city, in close coordination with their coalition counterparts.

In Talafa, a city northwest of Baghdad, the Iraqi government has reversed an effort by insurgents to arrest, control (inaudible) the proper authorities. Iraqi forces put down the challenge and allowed local citizens to choose a new mayor and police chief. Thousands of civilians have returned to the city. And since their return, we have launched a large program of reconstruction and humanitarian assistance.

Of course, why should Le Monde report all that? It's "nothing other than an episode in the presidential campaign"…

Here is another "episode" from the presidential campaign:

There are those who want to divide our world. I appeal to you, who have done so much already to help us, to ensure they don't succeed.

Do not allow them to say to Iraqis, to Arabs, to Muslims, that we have only two models of governments, brutal dictatorship and religious extremism. This is wrong.

Like Americans, we Iraqis want to enjoy the fruits of liberty. Half of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims already enjoy democratically elected governments.

As Prime Minister Blair said to you last year when he stood here, anywhere, any time ordinary people are given the chance to choose, the choice is the same: freedom not tyranny, democracy not dictatorship, and the rule of law not the rule of the secret police.

Do not let them convince others that the values of freedom, of tolerance and democracy are for you in the West but not for us.

Here is another:

For the first time in our history, the Iraqi people can look forward to controlling our own destiny.

This would not have been possible without the help and sacrifices of this country and its coalition partners. I thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

And let me tell you that as we meet our greatest challenge by building a democratic future, we the people of the new Iraq will remember those who have stood by us.

No wonder Le Monde, aka the organ of official opinion and of the ruling class, refrained from reporting that…

More objective material (or objectionable?)
from Le Monde on Ayad Allawi…