There's a story going around that Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi had about 7 foreign jihadis lined up against the wall, and then personally shot them. Here are the details (and see comments) - though I should add that there are questions about this story.
Got all that? OK. Now go and read a couple of Iraqi bloggers. Read Alaa of the Mesopotaamian. Now read Hammorabi. Especially the part at the end. I'm not surprised that they're angry about all the terrorists killing Iraqis - and I suspect they aren't alone.
Frankly, the whole thing makes me think of... Alice Cooper.
From Snopes.com, the Urban Legends Reference site:
"In the wake of Cooper's chicken incident, the rumor flew around he'd torn the head off a live chicken and drunk its blood during a show. Upon hearing it, Frank Zappa placed a call to Alice Cooper:
"Did you really do that?" Zappa asked. "No," replied Cooper. "Well, whatever you do," Zappa said, "don't tell anybody you didn't do it."
UPDATE: Newsweek offers a look at what's going on with Allawi. With the Kurds very much on edge and Shi'ite Ayatollah Sistani firmly insistent on elections, I can't see any way for Allawi to become a dictator - and I don't think he wants to. But I do expect to see martial law powers used, and the death penalty used as well on several high-ranking Ba'athists.
Beyond that... all anyone can really say with any honesty is, "we'll see." As the old military aphorism goes: "the enemy gets a say." Increasingly, so will Iraqis.
Joe:
That was pretty much my reaction as I expressed in the comments section of this post on Obsidian Wings. I was scolded for it. Roger Simon expressed a similar opinion:
Joe:
I have several problems with this report. As usual no one seems to get the facts straight but by all indications Paul McGeough is the lead on the story. These stories range from the impression of many on lookers to only two actually witnessing the events. In all cases the only common thread is the described event happened days prior to the exchange of power and only one unnamed witness which is the source. Personally I need some questions answered or I must write it off as myth / propaganda.
1 - Given Allawi’s position before and after the exchange of power it seems to me he would have been highly guarded no matter where he went or what he did. Why has only one source come forward?
2 - Given Allawi’s status I believe it is safe to say that his activity was also closely monitored by US personnel and mandate. Why have we heard nothing from those sources?
3 - If US sources had witnessed this activity why would they remain silent? After all this is before the exchange of power. Given the stakes on the table I would certainly think our sources would have spoken up.
For these reasons I'm more inclined to believe this is nothing but shall we say urban legend. Bottom line is validation as of yet is very weak to say the least.
USMC,
Agree, and there are strong elements here that fit the "Jenin pattern" of urban legend - vague stories, few specifics or times, A heard about... but witnesses or names hard to come by.
Tim Blair's post referenced above goes into more depth re: more of the possible inconsistencies.
I still say Zappa's advice to Alice Cooper is right on for Allawi if he wants to keep his popularity and support in Iraq high. The way the rumours are evolvong in Iraq (Allawi chopping up foreign jihadis with axes, etc.) says a lot about the underlying feelings of the Iraqis repeating them.
I think it's a clever leak. This is what a lot of people need to hear to have confidence that he's no pushover.