Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has hired a powerful Washington D. C. public relations firm with close ties to the White House and has embarked on a campaign to undermine the legitimately elected government of Nori al-Maliki This comes as President Bush is publicly taking great pains to reiterate his support for the embattled Iraqi leader. Al-Maliki's government has come under sharp criticism and scrutiny from Washington lawmakers and officials, as reflected in Thursday's National Intelligence Estimate. A senior Bush administration official told CNN the White House is aware of the lobbying campaign by Barbour Griffith & Rogers because the firm is "blasting e-mails all over town" criticizing al-Maliki and promoting the firm's client, former interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, as an alternative to al-Maliki. But the senior administration official insisted that White House officials have "absolutely no involvement" in the campaign to remove al-Maliki, nor...(Read Full Post)