Seymour Hersh interview re the Iraq election: Hersh's opinion is that the US wants to get Allawi installed as Prime Minister, just as they tried before. Allawi is a ruthless ex-Saddamite and experienced torturer and killer, who would do whatever the US wanted. But he will not win, according to Hersh. The Shiite leader Mahdi is more likely to win. The big winner will be Iran and the big losers the US and, of course, the Iraqi people.

"Well, you know, think about those guys Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Bush, this is the trio that really run things. I think Condi's not the first cut here. What is scary is how much they really believe what they are doing. They really believe… They really do believe [laughing]. I can tell you that when Mahdi was here – the vice president of Iraq, the SCIRI guy – was here in Washington about three weeks ago, at that time some very serious people, not in the Bush administration but very close to the family, very close to the Republican Party, very close to the power elite that runs this country, visited Mahdi, and basically said to him, "Look, you're probably going to make it, but we have to tell you something: It's our belief that it's over. Maybe everybody in Washington, in the White House doesn't know it, but it's over. You guys have to start planning. You in Iraq have to plan and anticipate a shutdown of American support and perhaps even a shutdown of American funds by the Congress. The American people have given up on this.""

Seymour Hersh interview re the Iraq election: Hersh's opinion is that the US wants to get Allawi installed as Prime Minister, just as they tried before. Allawi is a ruthless ex-Saddamite and experienced torturer and killer, who would do whatever the US wanted. But he will not win, according to Hersh. The Shiite leader Mahdi is more likely to win. The big winner will be Iran and the big losers the US and, of course, the Iraqi people.

"Well, you know, think about those guys Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Bush, this is the trio that really run things. I think Condi's not the first cut here. What is scary is how much they really believe what they are doing. They really believe… They really do believe [laughing]. I can tell you that when Mahdi was here – the vice president of Iraq, the SCIRI guy – was here in Washington about three weeks ago, at that time some very serious people, not in the Bush administration but very close to the family, very close to the Republican Party, very close to the power elite that runs this country, visited Mahdi, and basically said to him, "Look, you're probably going to make it, but we have to tell you something: It's our belief that it's over. Maybe everybody in Washington, in the White House doesn't know it, but it's over. You guys have to start planning. You in Iraq have to plan and anticipate a shutdown of American support and perhaps even a shutdown of American funds by the Congress. The American people have given up on this.""