Meet the New Boss

Baghdad has a new mayor, or so he says. Jaudat Obeidi added that he has the backing of the Iraqi National Congress, the Pentagon's favorite Iraqi splinter group. But an INC spokesman in Qatar claimed to have never heard of Obeidi.

U.S. Marines in the city are even more blunt. "Anyone declaring themselves as mayor or anything else is just not true. The US government has not appointed anyone," a Marine captain said.

Be that as it may, it hasn't stopped widespread reporting of Obeidi's ascension as a fact, accompanied by descriptions of an "aide" to INC chief Ahmad Chalabi being in charge of the city. Chalabi himself has just entered the city, which quite a few people evidently think he controls.

Wait 'til Iraq gets to the hanging-chad stage of democracy. Might have four or five mayors of Baghdad.