The Bush administration is attempting to set up a long-term military alliance with Baghdad. According to Patrick Cockburn of the Independent, the alliance will include no formal treaty, so Bush will not be obliged to submit it to the Senate for approval. Cockburn also reports that, in order to convince the Iraqi government to accept the deal, Washington is holding more than fifty billion dollars of Iraq's money hostage.

Why are the media not talking about this? Is this not a newsworthy story? As Juan Cole points out in his Friday posting, widespread protests taking place last Friday across southern Iraq in opposition to this alliance were hardly reported upon at all by newspapers and television channels in the United States.