Lost In Stenographic Translation

By Cernig

It's amazing what doesn't get mentioned in the mainstream media's reporting on iraq sometimes.

Hre's the AP today:

In political developments, Iraq’s Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi’s office said the moderate Sunni leader had met with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Wednesday to discuss his political bloc’s objections to the leadership of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

“The vice president confirmed that the absence of collective leadership and actual participation in running the country is one of the obstacles facing the political process in the country and that stands against reaching agreements ... on key laws,” al-Hashemi’s office said in a statement.

...The meeting occurred on the same day al-Hashemi’s Iraqi Accordance Front, which includes two hardline partners, suspended membership in the government, a bid that appeared timed to deepen disenchantment in Washington with the Shiite prime minister’s faltering leadership.

The Iraqi Accordance Front, which has six Cabinet seats and 44 of 275 in parliament, gave al-Maliki a week to meet its demands or see ministers quit the 14-month-old government. Al-Maliki faces intense scrutiny in Washington, where Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Crocker are required to report to Congress by Sept. 15 on progress in Iraq.

But according to the Kuwaiti news service KUNA, this is what al-Hashemi really told Crocker:

the vice president had said in a meeting with US Ambassador Ryan Crocker yesterday that the Baghdad law enforcement plan was no longer legal after the suspension of the emergency laws in the country.

Hashemi's office issued a statement Thursday saying the vice president discussed with the US official the "clear violations" of human rights in Iraq and called for setting up an independent committee to draw light to the extent of this humanitarian catastrophe.

That sorta makes a difference to discussion of whether that Baghdad law enforcement plan - aka "the surge" - is working, doesn't it?