Loose cannons

Saddam-lite I

"[US-appointed Iraqi prime minister Iyad] Allawi was a Baathist, and his vision for Iraq almost seems like Saddam-lite or neo-Saddam in the sense that he believes in a strong central government and a large army which would also perform internal security duties... He believes in strong domestic spying agencies. His whole outlook seems very similar to Saddam in his early career." — Kenneth Katzman, a former Iraq analyst with the CIA who is now an analyst at the US Congressional Research Service, quoted by the New Republic magazine, July 14.

Saddam-lite II

"Iyad Allawi, the new prime minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings." — Sydney Morning Herald, July 17.

Much better to have it done by a US stooge

"If we had followed the view of the Labor Party here and the view of the French and the Germans and the Russians and left the thing to the United Nations, Saddam would still be running Iraq and still murdering people." — Prime Menzies John Howard, July 22.

Oxy-moron

"I want to be the peace president." — Emperor George Bush II, July 20.

From Green Left Weekly, July 28, 2004.

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From GLW issue 591