This is a joke, right?

From Al-Jazeera:

The semantics of Iraqi sovereignty
By Roshan Muhammed Salih

Tuesday 06 July 2004, 18:28 Makka Time, 15:28 GMT

. . .

But Michael Rubin, a Middle East expert at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, a conservative thinktank, says the situation in Iraq post 28 June is "imperfect, but heading in the right direction".

"I think it would be preferable to have a formal agreement about the foreign forces between the interim government and the multinational force," he said.

But Rubin adds the new interim government should be given a chance to prove its mettle and smooth the way for democratic elections next year.

"I do have qualms about the interim agreement and the powers it gave to the Iraqi government, and I think the US may well try to exert pressure through financial aid," he said.[my emphasis]

"But issues of sovereignty and whether it is an occupation notwithstanding, we shouldn't cut the legs from under the new government."

Exert pressure through financial aid?

I posted this Monday.

. . .

With the US reluctant to disburse cash, reconstruction money has largely been drawn from Iraq's oil receipts, with some $19bn of a $20bn fund spent during the Coalition Provisional Authority's tenure in Iraq.

. . .

We've already used up Iraq's oil money, and have hardly spent any of the $87 billion that Kerry didn't vote for, or did, or didn't again, depending on what Bush ad you hear. After all we've done to the Iraqis, how dare we ever think of imposing more onto them.

5:15 pm: And while I was there, I stumbled onto a review of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11".

. . .

Where the film really shines is in its main objective of painting a portrait of the American president. Bush is presented as a man ill-equipped for his position, who stumbled his way into power, while lacking the basic intellect, charm and proper etiquette expected from a statesman.

Through the subtle use of off-air footage of Bush in his natural state, viewers are shocked as they witness his hardly appropriate behavior and often-juvenile mannerisms. An extended scene in which a befuddled Bush continues to read along with a classroom of children upon learning that the US was under attack on September 11 is especially painful to watch, even for his opponents.

Moore follows suit with other members of the Bush administration, presenting them in awkward situations that offer a radically different view of the "War Party".

. . .

I guess they liked it, huh?