Who's That Lady?

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the people feted and admired by the Bush maladministration (hello, Ahmad Chalabi!) often turn out to be rather less than they are advertised. For instance, who was the Iraqi woman, Safia Taleb Al Souhail, sitting in the balcony for the STFU SOTU speech last Wednesday night? Well, as it turns out, she's perhaps not exactly who the Bushies would want us to believe she is... see, it seems she left Iraq in 1968, and only recently returned, facilitated by the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Here's part of the lead paragraph of the post on DKos, just to pique your interest:

"Held up as a shining example of why we've spent $200 billion and wasted 1,500 lives and counting, it looks upon first glance that she doesn't live in Iraq, has been affiliated with right-wing organizations, her father was killed in Lebanon while planning a coup against Saddam, and her family claims the US was complicit in his assassination..."

Check it out, it's a pretty good read.