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U.S. spokesman calls uprising a “spontaneous outpouring of love” towards occupying forces

Well, not quite, but you get the idea.

Dan Senor, spokesman for L. Paul Bremer III, the civilian head of the American occupation authority, struck a similarly untroubled note. "We have isolated pockets where we are encountering problems," he said.

Using a measure that has repeatedly been used by American officials to play down the threat of insurgency across Iraq, he said the people who staged the attacks represented "a minuscule percentage" of the Iraqi population, most of whom, the Americans believe, support American plans to implant an American-style democratic system here after Iraq regains its sovereignty on June 30.

Remember: 30 to 50 percent of Iraqi Shiites back the Sadrist movement. That’s just one of the many factions who are attacking the U.S. occupation. So, who is Dan Senor and why does he try to paint such a bland picture of this whole mess?

Inside the marble-floored palace hall that serves as the press office of the U.S.-led coalition, Republican Party operatives lead a team of Americans who promote mostly good news about Iraq (news - web sites).

One-third of the U.S. civilian workers in the press office have GOP ties, running an enterprise that critics see as an outpost of Bush's re-election effort with Iraq a top concern. Dan Senor and others inside the coalition say they follow strict guidelines that steer clear of politics.

Senor, a former press secretary for Spencer Abraham (news - web sites), the Michigan Republican who's now Energy Secretary, heads the office packed with former Bush campaign workers, political appointees and ex-Capitol Hill staffers.

One of the main goals of the Office of Strategic Communications — known as stratcom — is to ensure Americans see the positive side of the Bush administration's invasion, occupation and reconstruction of Iraq, where 600 U.S. soldiers have died and a deadly insurgency thrives.
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The office counts 21 Republicans — 11 of whom have worked inside the Bush administration before their Iraq posting — among its 58 U.S. civilian staffers, according to figures Senor provided.

More than half a dozen CPA officials in the press office worked on Bush's 2000 presidential campaign or are related to Bush campaign workers, according to payroll records filed with the Federal Elections Commission.

Republican figures also permeate the wider CPA staff, including top advisers to U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer and the Iraqi ministries.

The U.S. team stands in deep contrast to the British team that works alongside it, almost all of whom are civil or foreign service employees, not political appointees. Many of the British in Iraq display regional knowledge or language skills that most of the Americans lack.

Republican operatives lacking in skills and knowledge are running the show in Iraq. Things are not going to improve any time soon.