Another day, another atrocity. And this one, you will not fucking believe:
Amidst doubts, CIA hangs on to control of Iraqi intelligence service
By Hannah Allam and Warren P. Strobel
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The CIA has so far refused to hand over control of Iraq's intelligence service to the newly elected Iraqi government in a turf war that exposes serious doubts the Bush administration has over the ability of Iraqi leaders to fight the insurgency and worries about the new government's close ties to Iran.
Yeah, sounds like things are going reeeeal well over there. More shockers after the jump...
The director of Iraq's secret police, a general who took part in a failed coup attempt against Saddam Hussein, was handpicked and funded by the U.S. government, and he still reports directly to the CIA, Iraqi politicians and intelligence officials in Baghdad said last week. Immediately after the elections in January, several Iraqi officials said, U.S. forces stashed the sensitive national intelligence archives of the past year inside American headquarters in Baghdad in order to keep them off-limits to the new government.
Jesus H. Christ on Toast Points, can you believe this?
Iraqi leaders complain that the arrangement violates their sovereignty, freezes them out of the war on insurgents and could lead to the formation of a rival, Iraqi-led spy agency. American officials counter that the new leaders' connections to Iran have forced them to take measures that protect Iraq's secrets from the neighboring Tehran regime.
What damn business do we have dictating Iraq's relationship with Iran?
The dispute also highlights the failure of the Bush administration to establish a Western-leaning, secular government in Baghdad following the 2003 invasion.
This amounts to a stunning admission that Iraqification has failed as a policy. And that was the only exit strategy the neocons had.
Note: this is another huge scoop for Knight Ridder. KR is the only agency worth reading on Iraq right now.