Reporter Lawrence Kaplan recently spent time in Iraq for the New Republic. Among the things he witnessed was this:
On the day the preliminary results of December’s elections were announced, [Iraq’s Prime Minister Ibrahim] Jafari invites the election commissioners for dinner. The liberal activist Mustafa Al Kadhimiy wrangles two invitations…
As a television in the corner of the room conveys images of the carnage outside, Jafari admits to being partial to the works of Noam Chomsky. Why won’t Chomsky come to Iraq? he asks.
I think it’s safe to say that—of all the possible futures the Bush administration may have considered when they invaded Iraq—one thing they didn’t anticipate was ending up with a Chomsky fan as prime minister.