US scientifically proven to still rule Iraq

If you still have doubt as to who's in charge in Iraq, the answer is contained in this New Zealand Times article (my emphasis):

The US has detained for far too long Iraqi scientists arrested last year in the belief that they would provide information about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, according to an Iraqi government source.

Even when US investigators concluded that no such weapons existed the scientists were not freed because the US Administration feared that their release would be seen as a tacit admission that Iraq had no WMD. Earlier this year some 70 Iraqi scientists were under arrest.

This may explain why the US embassy in Iraq is determined to detain Dr Rihab Rashid Taha, who once worked on biological weapons, while the Iraqi Ministry of Justice says it sees no good reason for her continued detention.

It seems that rather than eat crow and give some backing to the ruling body in Iraq, the US would continue to stonewall in attempts to shore up an argument the world knows is false.

Skewed priorities and the inability to admit to the truth. Sounds about right.

*UPDATE* Apparently, we still wield a strong hand in Afghanistan, too, and it guides them aeay from democracy (thanks, No More Mister Nice Blog):

Mohammed Mohaqiq says he was getting ready to make his run for the Afghan presidency when U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad dropped by his campaign office and proposed a deal.

"He told me to drop out of the elections, but not in a way to put pressure," Mohaqiq said. "It was like a request."