Thanks, friends

Maybe we should go home now.

ADDENDUM: Or maybe not. Maybe we should just not watch CNN, or read the New York Times.

CPA and organshoes have brought me up to date on this story through their comments. Turns out that the statement was misreported, and is in fact perfectly in harmony with Bush Administration policy.

No, the Iraqi government has not come out- as CNN suggests in the article linked to above- in unrestricted support of Iran's nuclear aspiriations. Omar at Iraq the Model translates the Iraqi statement this way (click on the quotation to be taken to the full post):

We respect Iran's and every other nation's right to pursue nuclear technology for research purposes and peaceful use given they accept [giving] the internationally required guarantees that this will not lead to an armament race in the region…

Meanwhile, it seems that Michael Ledeen- a contributor to the National Review blog, The Corner- has busted both the Newspaper of Record and CNN (here and here) in what is either a whopper or the worst translation foul-up since Jimmy Carter's translator told a crowd in Poland that the President of the United States wanted carnal knowledge of them.