Bush, right, looks up to Allawi to boost his reelection bid

WASHINGTON, September 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Iraq’s US-ally interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi took center stage in the American presidential campaign, with incumbent George W. Bush seeking to boost his claims on Iraq and his Democratic challenger stressing the Arab country was still deep sunk in anarchy under occupation.

The invasion of Iraq and ongoing unrest after its occupation more than eighteen months now has dominated the campaign for the November 2 election as a new poll indicated Kerry was closing the gap in the race with Bush.

Bush Thursday, September 23, rolled out the red carpet for the Iraqi premier, who gave a speech at a rare joint session of Congress before meeting at the White House with Bush, who hopes Allawi's visit will boost his campaign message on Iraq.

By the end of the day, it was clear that Allawi's visit to Washington, his first as Iraq's interim prime minister, was not simply a trip by a head of government but a politically charged moment in the presidential campaign, the New York Times reported Friday, September 24.

“I stand here today as the prime minister of a country emerging finally from dark ages of violence, aggression, corruption and greed," Allawi told a joint meeting of Congress before his appearance at the White House.

“Succeeding”

Using language that echoed Bush's campaign speeches about Iraq, Allawi went on: “Like almost every Iraqi, I have many friends who were murdered, tortured or raped by the regime of Saddam Hussein”.

Allawi avoided any mention of alleged weapons of mass destruction – none of which have been found despite being cited by Bush as the main justification for invading the oil-rich Arab country.

In the Rose Garden two hours after Allawi’s speech, Allawi and Bush continually claimed progress in Iraq despite the continuing spoke in suicide bombings and the recent beheadings of two American hostages.

“You can understand it's tough and still be optimistic,” Bush said.

Rather, in a thinly veiled attack on Kerry, whom Bush has accused of sending “mixed messages” on Iraq, the President and Allawi warned that criticism of the Iraq campaign could embolden what they call terrorists and dishearten US forces.

“You can embolden an enemy by sending mixed messages. You can dispirit the Iraqi people by sending mixed messages. You send the wrong message to our troops by sending mixed messages,” Bush said.

Allawi is a former neurologist with close ties to the CIA. He admitted on June 9, that his Iraqi National Accord used car bombs and other explosive devices smuggled into Baghdad for attacks inside Iraq that had even left civilian victims at the Saddam era.

“In Disarray”

“I think the prime minister is, obviously, contradicting his own statement,” Kerry said (AFP)

Kerry, on the other hand, reacted by lashing out at Bush for the continued violence in Iraq and at Allawi for cowing to the US administration bids to present a rosy image on his country.

The Bush administration was in “disarray” over Iraq and that the Iraqi prime minister was contradicting himself by saying that terrorists are being beaten, Kerry told a press conference in Columbus ,Ohio.

“I think the prime minister is, obviously, contradicting his own statement of a few days ago, where he said the terrorists are pouring into the country," Kerry said, stressing that Allawi and Bush were seeking "to put their best face on the policy."

Bush is using Allawi's visit to bolster his assertion that the United States is succeeding in Iraq, despite a mounting US military and Iraqi casualty toll from resistance attacks, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Allawi's Washington visit came a day after a video posted on a website showed a second US hostage, Jack Hensley, being beheaded by kidnappers in Iraq.

Bush said he had met earlier Thursday with General John Abizaid, the senior commander overseeing the roughly 140,000 US troops in Iraq, and that Abizaid had not requested more troops.

However, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged to lawmakers that more US troops may have to be sent to Iraq to provide security for the elections.

“The president says that things are getting better in Iraq and we must just stay the same course,” said Kerry.

He said Bush had “skedaddled” (run away quickly) out of the UN General Assembly in New York this week “so quickly he barely had time to talk to any of the other leaders”.

US Vice President Richard Cheney also weighed into the fray saying he was appalled by what he described as the “lack of respect” shown by Kerry to Allawi.

“I must say I was appalled at the complete lack of respect Senator Kerry showed for this man of courage when he rushed to hold a press conference and attack the prime minister, a man America must stand beside to defeat the terrorists,” Cheney told an audience in St. Joseph, Missouri.

But Allawi, also taking an apparent swipe at Kerry, said: "When political leaders sound the siren of defeatism in the face of terrorism, it can only encourage more violence." Only a few days ago, Bush accused his opponent of defeatism.

Experts had earlier told IslamOnline.net that the US-led occupation forces have escalated attacks in Iraq mainly to serve elections in the United States .

Karzai-Like

Observers stress that Bush is using Allawi to serve his election campaign the same way he had done with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

In February, 2003, Senior Republican lawmaker Chuck Hagel accused the Bush administration of having primed Afghan President to present a rosy picture of the progress his country has made since US-led forces threw out the Taliban in 2001.

“My guess is he has been told by US government officials he needs to put a very positive face on what's going on,” Hagel had told reporters after Karzai testified before the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

Committee chairman Republican Senator Richard Lugar welcomed him as someone who “personifies the optimism, the rich cultural heritage and the heroic determination of the Afghan people.”

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll gave Bush a 48-45 percent edge over Kerry among registered voters Thursday with independent Ralph Nader pulling two percent. Bush led 50-46 percent among likely voters.

The survey suggested a rebound for Kerry after polls in the last two weeks gave the president a lead of between two and 13 points after the Republican National Convention in New York.