Boys of Baghdad College Vie for Prime Minister

[ECH1969]

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 9 - The priests have long since departed, but the elite Jesuit high school called Baghdad College still looms over the swirling world of Iraqi politics. The three Iraqi political leaders considered most likely to end up as prime minister after nationwide elections this week - Ayad Allawi, Ahmad Chalabi and Adel Abdul Mahdi - were schoolmates at the all-boys English-language school in the late 1950's, fortunate members of the Baghdad elite that governed Iraq until successive waves of revolution and terror swept it away.

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.

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."

Allawi said he and Chalabi used to swim after school at an exclusive social club. And he described how he and Mahdi had become politicized at Baghdad College, first with the fevers of Arab nationalism and then with the early stirrings of the Baath Party. As for politics, Allawi, Chalabi and Mahdi say that while the furies engulfing their country are serious, the best hope for containing them may lie in three old schoolmates sitting down together.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/12/international/middleeast/12family.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1134371638-6Jk2Vvh9gl/7oQy38TwIHw

[Fridays Child]

1. Gee, even as a little kid, Chalabi looked like a conniver.

Creepy dude.

[ECH1969]

2. I totally agree