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Spencer Ackerman has got the story on Iyad Allawi's at long last successful coup.
A Shia, he was nonetheless an enthusiastic Baathist in his youth, organizing Iraqi students for the party before the 1968 revolution and working in Europe as a functionary for the Baath afterward. Officially the head of the Iraqi Student Union in London, Allawi served as a handmaiden for Iraqi intelligence in the 1970s, bringing well-heeled Arab students to the attention of the Baath security apparatus. His intelligence work sharpened his key attributes: his ability to cultivate a variety of power players and his eagerness to play them off one another for his benefit...
He's not exactly known for his commitment to democracy. His cousin Ali is defense minister. Governing Council member Mahmoud Othman explained that Allawi's nomination "has a great deal to do with security." It may be that the U.S. has decided to bet on a compliant strongman. Right now, though, it's not clear how strong he really is. Then again, that's typically been the way Iyad Allawi has preferred it.
Thomas Jefferson, apparently, he is not.
Josh Marshall has the run down on the confusion and intrigue surrounding Allawi's, ugh, election to the job.