More of the same

As if the Katrina debacle hasn't been enough, other government endeavors are causing further head-scratching, bewilderment and sighing.

First, consider the case of David Safavian, the Bush-appointed, former head of government procurement at the Office of Management and Budget, and before that, chief of staff at the General Services Administration, who was recently arrested on charges related to obstruction of justice and influence peddling involving scandal-emeshed, Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Turns out that Safavian has a wife who's gainfully employed, mind you, as the Republican House Government Reform Committee's chief counsel for investigations (she has recused herself from any cases involving her husband and OMB).

Take some time to let that connection and influence swill around your mind, and see if you aren't ready for a stiff drink. Government Reform, no doubt.

And as if that isn't enough to about send you over the edge, kicking and screaming, think about the recent jailbreak engineered by the British military in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Um, the Brits had two undercover persons dressed in "full Arabic dress" were arrested by Iraqi policemen for shooting at Iraqi civilians. The Brits used a tank or tanks to bust through the jail, allowing 150 Iraqi prisoners of unknown criminal backgrounds to escape while the U.S.'s junior occupational partner retrieved their two spies. But the Iraqi police who arrested the Brits were policemen presumably trained and supported by the British military. So aren't the residents of Basra and its administration both supportive of, and supported by, the occupying "coalition"? Are we warring against ourselves in Iraq? Can a divided house stand?

Questions of sovereignty raised

The events raised questions about how much sovereignty Iraqi authorities really were granted when the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority handed over power to an interim Iraqi government in the summer of 2004.

How much Iraqi sovereignty? Um, that would appear to be none.

And I won't even bring up the other item on Atrios about the former Iraqi defense official under the previous U.S. installed, Allawi government, under investigation for embezzling funds.

Are there any more shoes left to drop?