It's really hard to understand the Kerry campaign's trashing of Allawi last week. Sure Kerry thinks Bush is incompetent, stupid and has led us into an unneeded war. Fine. As a candidate, it's his perfect right to say such. But to reach past Bush and to diss the new government in Iraq, to the point of calling Allawi a hand-puppet and a liar, is a new level of attack. What is Kerry thinking?
The only thing that makes any sense at all is that Kerry is hoping for disaster in Iraq, and soon. Not predicting it, not fearing it, but actively seeking a clear demonstration of failure in the next few weeks, so that he can say "I told you so" and win the election.
In 1968, Lyndon Johnson was seeking re-election, telling the country that the opposition in Viet-Nam had been beaten and the war would be over soon. He was, of course, lying. Then came the Tet Offensive, in which the Viet Cong launched multiple attacks against US bases and installations across South Viet-Nam. The attacks all failed, at great cost to the VC, but the damage was done. By simply dying in large numbers (~10,000), the VC proved that they still had large numbers, and Johnson's re-election was doomed.
Is Kerry hoping for an Iraqi Tet? Is he (oh so indirectly) calling for one? Sure does seem to be setting himself up for the event in any case. Someone should call him on it.
Update: Speaking of puppets, Kerry's sock-puppet Maureen Dowd can hardly contain her glee over the violence in Iraq.
Update 2: Former Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar expects Tet as well.