Wonkette

Iraq opposition dude Ayad Allawi is campaigning for the ouster of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki the old-fashioned way: paying a foreign lobbying firm with close ties to the leader of his country’s occupying power to back him. Democracy! There’s just a slight problem — no, not the “making a mockery of all claims of Iraqi sovereignty” bit. It’s that he’s in violation of US lobbying laws! MORE »

Ayad Allawi (remember him?) is paying Washington lobbyists big, big bucks to convince the White House and Congress to green-light the Maliki putsch. [IraqSlogger]

Senate Armed Forces Committee chairman Carl Levin just took a three-day trip to Iraq and Jordan and he’s come back convinced that we need to have our CIA overthrow and perhaps assassinate Nouri al-Malki, the comically incompetent Prime Minister of our little experiment in Mesopotamia. MORE »

We know all of you were distracted by Fred Thompson’s dirty letters and America’s cumstain, but remember how the biggest Sunni bloc in Iraq’s government said they were going to quit if they didn’t get their way? Well political mastermind Nouri Al-Maliki responded to them today, with a diplomatic “fuck you.” MORE »

Once every two weeks, George W. Bush and soon-to-be-disappeared Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki chat on the phone about life, love, God, and their shared hatred for democracy. Bush and Maliki get along because they both believe in God, though not the same God, which both are polite enough to not mention. MORE »

Vice President Dick Cheney popped over to Iraq unannounced today to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and interview prospective replacement figureheads for once they decide to have Maliki disappeared. MORE »

Speaking of Cheney, unloved Iraq puppet leader Nuri al-Maliki is expected to be “assassinated by Al Qaeda” in the very near future after saying he doesn’t want Washington starting a war with Iran in Iraq. This comes after the startling (bullshit) revelation that the outrageous attack on a U.S. base in Iraq last week that was originally completely covered up by the U.S. military has suddenly become an obvious Iranian action as the attackers were blond, spoke English, wore U.S. military uniforms and drove U.S. military vehicles. MORE »

• Yesterday Bush appeared with Nouri al-Maliki at The White House for the first time. He announced a new Iraq strategy which involves moving existing troops to Baghdad. “Bush sounded unusually dour and acknowledged that the situation in Iraq in many ways has worsened lately.” [WP]

• The White House drafts a proposal for bringing terror detainees to trial: “The draft bill specifies that no matter how it is gathered, evidence ’shall be admissible if the military judge’ determines it has ‘probative value.’” [NYT]
• The Senate voted 65 to 34 to prohibit anyone from helping pregnant minors cross state lines (to get around parental consent laws) for abortion care. [WP]
• 25 days before they adjourn, Congress introduces two energy bills to ease reliance on foreign oil. [WSJ]
• Milbloggers hope to counteract MSM, “Does Abu Ghraib need to be told 40 times above the fold in the New York Times when half your readers couldn’t name the guy who won the Medal of Honor?” [WSJ]

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