Meanwhile, over there

Alliance led by ex-Iraqi PM wins election narrowly
By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press Writer
26 March 2010
BAGHDAD – Former U.S.-backed prime minister Ayad Allawi and his secular, anti-Iranian coalition narrowly won Iraq's parliamentary elections in final returns Friday, edging out the bloc of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who angrily vowed to challenge the results.

Iraq had an election. A disputed election.

Allawi claims 91 seats in the Iraq parliament... to 89 for current Prime Minister al-Maliki. Allawi, tho' a Shi'ite, was supported by Baghdad's Sunnis. Finishing third, with "about 70 seats" was the party of Moqtada al-Sadr. The Kurdish party came in fourth.

One analyst has predicted that - if al-Maliki's challenge to the results is defeated - Allawi will form of coalition with the Sadrists & the Kurds. In many respects, this would be good news. Tho' the Sadrists are blatantly anti-American, they are also fierce nationalists. Al-Maliki is more-or-less an Iranian sympathizer. Allawi, the Sadrists, and the Kurds are not. This could be the beginning of a genuinely nationalist government, sympathetic to neither Iran nor America.
[... of course, we deposed and executed the last leader of Iraq who was not sympathetic to America!]

Who knows, maybe W was right.
[Oops! - I didn't really say that, did I?]
Seven years and $700Bn later...
... My bet is we could have achieved the same result with far less $$$.