Obligatory link of the day: the New York Times story about the "shadow Iraqi government" chilling its piece in Kuwait. The phrase might make you think they're, you know, exiled or ex-pat Iraqis, but nope: "The overall boss of this Iraqi government-in-waiting, an operation that has been endowed with the Washington-speak title "Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance," is retired Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner."

I'd heard rumors of this before, but I figured it could just be the brits blowing off steam. Then Tony Toni Tone said that Iraq should be run by Iraqis, and I thought, well, duh. Then this, not to mention this. There are other takes on the matter, of course, but they all seem like fond memories at this point. Hmm, I'm pretty slow on the uptake--good thing I'm not making national policy, eh?

It took me a reread or two to catch it, but check this:

A stocky 64-year-old, on leave from a top post at the defense contractor L-3 Communications...

Sheesh, guys. Couldn't you have found someone who wasn't working for a defense contractor? Like, I dunno, an aid worker or a diplomat or something? I'm just sayin'.
posted by Mike B. at 12:50 PM 0 comments