ALLAWI SINGS DIFFERENT TUNE

Just weeks after spreading "verbal sunshine" (or as we say down south…blowing sunshine up your ass)?across the White House Rose Garden, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi gave a "sobering account" of Iraq’s instability in his first speech before the country’s interim national assembly. He said the insurgency was a "source of worry for many people" and that the guerrillas represent "a challenge to our will." His tone was a "sharp departure from the more optimistic assessment he gave to the American public on his visit to the United States last month. At his stop in Washington, Dr. Allawi made several sweeping assertions to reporters about the security situation in Iraq, including saying that the only truly unsafe place in the country was the downtown area of Falluja, the largest insurgent stronghold, and that only 3 of 18 provinces had ‘pockets of terrorists.’" Administration officials admit Allawi was "coached and aided" in his speech before Congress. Speaking to his countrymen, Allawi’s "words reflected a darker take on the state of the war."