The Prime Minister: How Tough Will He Get?

Allawi's biggest challenge will be to maintain close ties with the U.S., which still provides for Iraq's security and reconstruction, while proving to Iraqis he's not a stooge. "Judging by the way he was selected, I don't expect much from him," says Sadoun al-Dulame, executive director of the Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies. (U.S. authorities in Baghdad and Washington played an active but largely hidden role in Allawi's ascent.) "He will be a puppet for the people who gave him the job," al-Dulame says. If the U.S. wants Allawi to succeed, it may have little choice but to let him pull his own strings. --By Aparisim Ghosh/Baghdad