The "handover of power" to Iraq is "a publicity stunt and has almost no substance to it," says Middle East history professor Juan Cole. "Gwen Ifill said on US television on Sunday that she had talked to Condaleeza Rice, and that her hope was that when something went wrong in Iraq, the journalists would now grill Allawi about it rather than the Bush administration. (Or words to that effect.) Ifill seems to me to have given away the whole Bush show. That's what this whole thing is about. It is Public Relations and manipulation of journalists. Let's see if they fall for it."

After New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau wrote a story reporting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had collected extensive information on antiwar demonstrators, FBI spokeswoman Cassandra Chandler sent around a memo urging agency officials to "please avoid providing information to this reporter," and the Justice Department revoked his press credentials.

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