The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times both had Sunday stories suggesting that the Bush administration is drastically scaling back its original plan to remake Iraq in order to transfer sovereignty to the Iraqis by the June timetable.
The theme in both stories is that this is due to pragmatism triumphing over neocon principle. A few facts to mess up that meme, however. First, xfcber-pragmatist Brent Scowcroft — who was not particularly eager to invade Iraq this time around — sides with the neocons on wanting a more deliberate transition in the Los Angeles Times. Second, the transfer of sovereignty is not the drop-dead date for restructuring Iraq’s polity — there’s even the possibility that creating a sovereign government would facilitate rather than impede reforms. Third, what’s not mentioned in either story is that beyond Karl Rove, the “international community” has been pushing for an early transfer of sovereignty as well. Saudi Arabia, for one, won’t talk substantively about Iraqi debt reduction until a sovereign government has been established in Baghdad.
Given that large numbers of U.S. troops are going to be in Iraq for the duration, and given that this presence (and not the sovereignty transfer) will keep Iraq on the front pages, could the quicker transition have anything to do with…. international cooperation?
That last sentence reads better if you say it like Dr. Evil, by the way. (posted by Daniel Drezner)
The Dish 