The New York Times’ Edward Wong has provided some great reporting from Iraq but occasionally, he writes material that has one scratching one’s head. Here’s a classic:
“Still, there were some who derided this government, just like the old Governing Council, as a puppet of the American occupation. And all the Iraqis who were interviewed said they wanted the interim government to have full sovereign powers, a demand that is being debated at the United Nations. It is irreconcilable with the Bush administration’s position that the new officials be endowed with only very limited powers.”
Funny. I haven’t read anywhere of the Bush administrration severely restricting the ability of various Iraqis to run their own ministries, control their own police forces, use their own revenues, etc. Yes, there’s some delicate negotiation about the Iraqi control of other countries’ armed forces – but tha strikes me as far from the notion that the new rulers “be endowed with only very limited powers.” Wong’s piece is, in fact, very heartening for the Bush administration, which is why, perhaps, Wong felt it incumbent to find some way to spin it as a failure or as a conflict between Iraqis and Washington. So here’s the question: what does Wong mean by “very limited powers?” Could he or the New York Times elaborate?
The Dish 