Paul Kiel January 11, 2007, 8:56 AM

Is Iraqi sovereignty an oxymoron?

The New York Times reports that the president’s plan to embed American troops with Iraqi units will provide the twin benefit of providing support to the Iraqis while keeping them on a short leash:

American generals have acknowledged that the twinning of American and Iraqi units, and the sharp increase in American advisers, will serve the dual purpose of stiffening Iraqi combat performance and providing American commanders with early warning of any Iraqi operations that run counter to American objectives. In effect, the advisers will serve as canaries in Mr. Maliki’s mine, ensuring the American command will get early notice if Iraqi operations threaten to abandon the equal pursuit of Sunni and Shiite extremists in favor of a more sectarian emphasis on going after Sunnis alone.

There’s a similar tension with regard to Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who, since he’s being given more authority, can’t be left without babysitters:

The arrangements appeared to suggest that Mr. Maliki would have the power to halt any push into Sadr City, the Mahdi Army stronghold that American commanders have been saying for months will have to be swept of extremist militia elements if there is to be any lasting turn toward stability in Baghdad. But along with more authority for Mr. Maliki, the American plan appeared to have countervailing safeguards to prevent sectarian agendas from gaining the upper hand. Bush administration officials said that Americans would be present in the commander in chief’s office and that an American Army battalion — 400 to 600 soldiers — would be stationed in each of the nine Baghdad military districts.

George Bush, Iraq, Must Read