corrente

Quick! Does Rummy know? The Independent reports:

As the United States scrambles to end a dispute with Shia leaders over plans to elect an interim government in Iraq before July, it has emerged that American commanders are seeking to reach out to tribal leaders by relying on a report devised in 1918 by Britain, the country's then ruler.

Lieutenant-Colonel Alan King, head of the Tribal Affairs Bureau set up by the US-led coalition last month, admitted last week that he had been referring to the pages of the British report to fathom Iraq's network of tribal sheikhs - regardless of the fact that it dates back to the First World War.

The revelation is not likely to improve confidence in the ability of the US to sort out the deepening muddle over how it means to relinquish political power to the Iraqi people by this summer.

"Not likely to improve confidence"—I love that British understatement!

Hey, they fired all the gay translators—maybe the map guys were gay too?

But the program is interesting: we need to know where the sheiks are so we can throw money at them:

For Col King the advantages are clear: he receives reports from them on local affairs, a precious commodity since the Iraqi administration fell into decline after the first Gulf War and almost disappeared with the second. His bureau - the Office of Provincial Outreach - was awarded US$900,000 last week to establish "Tribal Democracy Centres", to provide resources to the sheikhs.

Why would we want to give the sheiks money? Could it have anything to do with the elections? Edward Wong of The Times reports:

As they head into a crucial meeting at the United Nations, American officials are struggling to cobble together an electoral process that will favor Iraqi moderates for the handover of sovereignty just five and a half months away.

Moderates being the sheiks, as opposed to the Shiites, I would think. So the first step is to buy them off. Hey, it worked with the warlords in Afghanistan! Didn't it?