Mr. Dictatorhead

The story that Iyad Allawi, the newly installed Iraqi Prime Minister, had executed up to six insurgents in cold blood, was first reported around July 16th. The account, written by a respected journalist, Paul McGeough, in the Sydney Morning Herald, was based on information from two independent corroborating witnesses. (The original article is reproduced here at counterpunch.org.)

In a radio interview, Mr. McGeough, himself, predicted little would come of the story. He felt that it required extensive follow-up investigation, and was likely far too sensitive a subject for most media to pursue.

If you do a search on the most obvious attributes of the situation, you’ll find most reports coming out of Australia (or the American far left). Of the few mentions I found in the American press, the story was framed in the context of “urban legend,” or as a rumor planted by Allawi himself to reinforce his own “no nonsense” reputation.