But he'll be OUR sonofabitch...

Allawi is pushing hard to get himself installed as American puppet. I suppose he sees it as a reasonable career move--after all, he's running out of options that don't involve getting honest work--and the "install a compliant strongman" model will no doubt be tempting as the hollowness of the "surge" becomes inescapable. And the "Yes he's a sonofabitch, but he's our sonofabitch" model worked oh so well during the cold war...