Allawi is a good captain

Do you know the way to San Jose?
I've been away so long. I may go wrong and lose my way.
L.A. is a great big freeway.
Put a hundred down and buy a car.
In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star ...

As much as I liked this flower power age song, as much as I detested hearing it on the loud speakers at Baghdad's Alwiyah club's swimming pool area. Especially in the summer and on Saturdays when, to the sheer misery of us, teenagers, the club's water polo team would take over the Olympic-sized pool for the rest of the day.

That was Baghdad 1969.

Now one of the people who reminds me of those Saturdays' Do you know the way to San Jose was Eyad Allawi - you're Tony Soprano - Iraq's former prime minister, a family friend and a member of the water polo team.

When Allawi became the prime minister for the first time, I was on the verge of saying something to the effect of "here we go again, water polo Saturdays" but it hit me hard on the head, that Iraq of those golden days of the end of the 1960s had gone away forever.

Back in Jordan, in 2003, we were all elated because the Americans had done the job for us and got rid of Saddam. Little did we know that things will further deteriorate to the extent that many people look back to Saddam's days with disbelief, wondering how he was able to manage that nut house!

I was happy for many reasons when Allawi became the interim prime minister of Iraq prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections, for my heart and soul remain in Iraq.

Why do I feel Iraq needs Allawi today?

The reasons are: The Nouri Al Maliki government clearly has lost the confidence of the Bush administration and of everyone else at that. I cannot blame anyone, as Abu Israa's government has failed miserably, despite the good intentions of its leader. It will lose its parliamentary majority, as long as the bloc led by Moqtada Al Sadr threatens to withdraw from the coalition.

Alternative

Oddly, in Washington, the buzz is about Abdul Aziz Al Hakim who is seen as an alternative to Al Maliki. This is very strange indeed, since Al Hakim has played a key role in driving a wedge between the Sunnis and Shiites, since he is the pillar of the Shiite Badr militias.

Now, if the US wanted to pursue the Iraq Study Group's recommended dialogue with Iran, then it would have been very useful to cooperate with Al Hakim; but Bush evidently does not want to go that route, for better or for worse. If Bush's preference is continued confrontation with Iran, then Al Hakim is the worst possible choice.

Which brings us back to Allawi.

Now what in Allawi will attract every one from Sadr city to Timbuktu?

Allawi is a British-educated neurosurgeon. In a programme broadcast on Al Arabiya Channel a few years ago, he described to the audience about an attempt to kill him while he was in Britain in 1978. He spent a year in hospital recovering from his injuries.

Needless to say, Saddam Hussain was behind the assassination attempt.

Many people say he is secular, he is clever and he also has a good relationship with Sunnis and Shiites and comes from a prominent Shiite family. But the real reason behind my belief that Allawi is the man for Iraq is this incident:

Before the US army made its siege around Fallujah and the subsequent massacre of innocent civilians, Allawi spoke to the tribal heads of the area.

He told them that the Americans wanted Abu Musab Al Zarqawi to be handed over. One person in that meeting told me that a worried Allawi was pacing up and down the room because he knew what would happen next. He pleaded, but was told that none of them knew where Al Zarqawi was hiding.

He then turned to them, stood with both arms held together behind his back, looked at them for a time that felt as though it would last forever, then said: "Is it worth it to hide this criminal? You have the answer, I don't. Now do not waste time, get your families out, on the double."

He acted like a real captain of a real ship.

We need people like him, who have their heart in the right place.