The Boys Of Baghdad

With elections in Iraq drawing near, the New York Times looks at three politicians with Baghdad-style old school ties:

Boys Of Baghdad College Vie For Prime Minister

The three men are now flag bearers for three very different visions of Iraq's future: Mr. Allawi for a secular state, Mr. Mahdi for an Islamic-style democracy, and Mr. Chalabi for a program that would purge Iraqi society of those associated with Mr. Hussein's rule. Hard feelings have erupted at times, in particular between Mr. Allawi and Mr. Chalabi, who struggled bitterly in the 1990's over the leadership of the Iraqi exile movement.

But what unites the three former schoolmates could prove more important than what sets them apart.

Clashing banners and personal ambitions aside, Mr. Allawi, Mr. Chalabi and Mr. Mahdi say they are ready to strike political deals that might involve tossing aside some ideological differences. Mr. Mahdi and Mr. Chalabi say they aim to form a "national unity" government with Iraq's main political leaders, presumably including Mr. Allawi.

Mr. Allawi, among others, says that is highly unlikely. Even so, the ties that go back to childhood and to the musty corridors of Baghdad College suggest that the hard clashes that lie ahead in this polarized land may yet be softened by three men who grew up together.

"Ahmad was a year ahead of me, and we used to go swimming together," Mr. Allawi said. "Adel and I were friends, our families knew each other. He was a good basketball player."

"Politically we are very different now," he said. "But those were nice days then."
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For men now in their 60's - Mr. Allawi is 60, Mr. Chalabi is 61 and Mr. Mahdi is 63 - memories of that time are sometimes hazy. And although the three men attended Baghdad College at the same time, because of their differing ages they did not attend the same classes.

But the memories are fondly held. During separate interviews last year, Mr. Chalabi and Mr. Mahdi volunteered that they had gone to high school together, and each man walked over to his bookcase to pull down his yearbook.

"Adel was always bullying us," Mr. Chalabi joked about the soft-spoken Mr. Mahdi, with whom he remains close. "Ayad was taciturn."
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Mr. Chalabi boasted that he had received the highest marks in school, a boast that was not disputed by Mr. Allawi or Mr. Mahdi.

"I was ahead of Chalabi, but he was so intelligent he was jumping classes," Mr. Mahdi said.

Allawi Predicts A 'Bloody Chain Of Evil'

Iraq is likely to descend into civil war, unleashing a wave of "evil forces" around the world, if the current government is returned to power in this week's elections, the former prime minister warned yesterday.
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Dr Allawi is heading a secular list for the elections on Thursday to choose the country's first full government since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003.
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Dr Allawi believes this is the last chance to prevent Iraq collapsing into fiefdoms run by sectarian militias. There are strong signs that this is already happening, with the police being infiltrated by militias linked to parties in the ruling Shia Muslim coalition.

"If Iraq continues down this route, Iraq will dismember and fragment," Dr Allawi said at his guarded home in Baghdad.

"When it fragments, God forbid, it will be quite bloody. Not only for Iraq. It will trigger a chain in the whole region, and perhaps beyond, which cannot be controlled, and this will unleash evil forces throughout the world."

An opinion poll suggests Iraqis are generally optimistic about their lives, in spite of the violence that has plagued Iraq since the US-led invasion.
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The poll by Oxford Research International was commissioned by the BBC, ABC News and other international media organisations, and released ahead of this week's parliamentary elections in Iraq.
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The BBC News website's World Affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds, says the survey shows a degree of optimism at variance with the usual depiction of the country as one in total chaos.

The findings are more in line with the kind of arguments currently being deployed by US President George W Bush, he says.

However, our correspondent adds that critics will claim that the survey proves little beyond showing how resilient Iraqis are at a local level - and that it reveals enough important exceptions to the rosy assessment, especially in the centre of the country, to indicate serious dissatisfaction.

Interviewers found that 71% of those questioned said things were currently very or quite good in their personal lives, while 29% found their lives very or quite bad.

When asked whether their lives would improve in the coming year, 64% said things would be better and 12% said they expected things to be worse.
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When asked to choose a priority for the new government due to be formed after this week's elections, 57% wanted to focus on restoring public security.

Removing US-led forces from Iraq came second with 10%, while rebuilding the country's infrastructure was third.

Update: Speaking of Democratic perspective:

Representative John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who roiled Washington by calling for a quick troop withdrawal from Iraq, refused Sunday to back away, despite disagreement within his party.

"The majority of people in Iraq are in favor of us getting out now," he said on CBS. "We have become the enemy."