For one thing, Allawi is going to run for election. A real election.
That's a big difference, even if you don't see it. I have stated in the past that Iraq will truly be out of the woods when it has a couple of elections under its belt, and both the people and the leaders abide by them. That is the key. Not whether terror attacks are still taking place, or the electricity is completely on line. It's whether the people of Iraq agree to be a democratic state. The rest is almost incidential. Israel is still under siege, but it's a working democracy.