GOP lobbying firm hired to oust Iraqi PM Bush backs
A lobbying firm with close connections to the Bush administration is aiding the efforts of an opposition leader in Iraq who is seeking Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ouster.
The revelation that lobbying firm Barbour, Griffith and Rogers, whose president is a former US envoy to Iraq, is supporting former interim prime minister Ayad Alllawi, was first reported by IraqSlogger. The firm has sent hundreds of e-mails in Allawi's name from an e-mail address it purchased, DrAyadAllawi@Allawi-for-Iraq.com, and it has purchased the Web domain AllawiForIraq.com.
BGR's president, Robert Blackwill, was presidential envoy for Iraq in 2004. Amid speculation that President Bush would support Maliki's replacement, the administration has stressed its continued support of Iraq's prime minister.
"It's not up to politicians in Washington, D.C. to say whether he will remain in his position -- that is up to the Iraqi people who now live in a democracy, and not a dictatorship," Bush said Wednesday.
CNN correspondent Ed Henry reported Thursday that a senior administration official told him "the White House is aware of this, and they may at some point try to tell the firm to dial this back because it undermines what President Bush has been saying publicly."
In Thursday's daily White House press briefing, spokesman Gordon Johndroe denied the White House was involved in BGR's lobbying effort.
"This is an elected government right now," Johndroe said. "If former Prime Minister Allawi is interested in becoming prime minister again, that would be an issue that he would need to take up with the Iraqi people, probably best taken up in Baghdad rather than Washington, D.C."
Asked why a Republican firm populated by Bush allies would be representing a client whose actions run counter to administration goals, Johndroe suggested that "maybe it's a really good contract."
In an op-ed last week, Allawi criticized al-Maliki's leadership and said the prime minister "failed to take advantage" of the Iraqi people's desire for democracy.
That essay was distributed to lawmakers and others in Washington using the BGR-owned e-mail address.
Along with Blackwill, BGR counts among its ranks several other Bush allies and former administration officials. ThinkProgress reports, "Philip Zelikow, a former Counselor to Condoleezza Rice, serves as a senior adviser to the firm. Lanny Griffith, chief executive officer, is a Bush Ranger having raised at least $200,000 for Bush in the 2004 presidential election. And Ed Rogers, chairman and founder of the firm, has been a reliable political ally for the Bush White House."
Allawi had connections with the CIA and Britain's MI-6 before he was installed as Iraq's interim prime minister in June 2004. He was believed to be behind claims about Iraq's ability to deploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes that later proved to be false; he also is believed to have pushed charges of Iraq's connections to al Qaeda.
The following video is from CNN's Situation Room, broadcast on August 23.
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