Sadly, NOT an April Fool's Joke In the rumor that cannot be true because its so ungodly insane comes this from the the ruggedly handsome academic Juan Cole: Rumors are flying around official Washington that the new US ambassador in Iraq as of July 1 will be Paul Wolfowitz. Now it's a rumor. But Cole has been easily the most accurate American I know of on what is going on in Iraq and in his predictions. He is also well-placed to get these rumors. Even better than me (I know, hard to believe anything can be more accurate than my magic can of bad salmon, peyote, and a Ouija board -- but go figure). If this comes to be though -- what a freaking potential disaster. As Cole says: It would be proof positive to the insurgents in Iraq that the US intends to reshape the country in accordance with a Zionist agenda and make Iraqis the bitches of Ariel Sharon [Mind you, I think this conspiratorial way of thinking illegitimate, but it is already a theme in Iraqi popular political discourse]. It seems unlikely to me that Wolfowitz could get the cooperation of the Shiite clerics.