Is Allawi going to win the election?

Oh goodness.

We'll see. If Allawi wins, there will be claims of fraud by the occupying US forces on behalf of the acknowledged CIA asset. As of now, I don't know what anti-fraud measures exist in the Iraqi vote-counting process. The idea that it takes a week to count the votes strikes me as somewhat suspicious, but more important is the transparency. Who is there when the votes are counted? What opportunities would a party that wants to fabricate results have?

Iraq may become a very messy situation over the next couple of months. Sistani, of course, would be outraged at the idea of Allawi becoming prime minister. Hopefully the process will move forward in a way that most Iraqis trust and produces a legitimate government. For now, I'm hopeful.