corrente

Who knew?

Mathew Rosenberg of AP reports:

An aide to Iraq's most prominent Shiite cleric on Friday branded the U.S. formula for transferring power a "hasty agreement" aimed at boosting President Bush's re-election campaign.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, the country's most influential Shiite Muslim leader, has demanded that members of a new provisional legislature be chosen by voters. The Americans want them selected by regional caucuses.

U.S. officials insist al-Sistani's demand for elections is unfeasible given Iraq's security situation. Many Shiites suspect the Americans simply want to manipulate the caucuses to make sure favored Iraqis win seats.

Bush? Manipulate an election? Say, why don't we give the Iraqis electronic voting machines? Yeah, that's the ticket...

Meanwhile, Bush tries to get the UN to pacify Sistani! Here:

The Bush administration hopes Bremer can persuade Annan to dispatch a U.N. delegation to Iraq to convince Sistani there's no time to organize elections. Annan has expressed such reservations himself. The Shiite cleric may be more open to accepting this view if it comes from the United Nations.

So, it turns out the UN has its uses after all... Now we're in step 2 of the Bush Approach to Diplomacy. Step (1): Piss all over them. Step (2) Demand their help. Sigh....