Earlier on I stated that Iyad Allawi was the “US choice” for Iraqi Prime Minister because that’s the impression I had been given by BBC Radio 4 yesterday evening.

This morning, the BBC News site had the headline “US backs caretaker PM”, suggesting that the Americans had merely approved of the Iraqi Governing Council’s decision to put Allawi forward. [I’ve changed my posting accordingly.]

Now, when you click on the BBC News link “US backs caretaker PM”, you get the headline “US distances itself from Iraqi PM“.

Huh?

So the Americans are supposedly less approving. Does this mean that Toby Dodge will have to start saying what a wise choice the new PM is?