Bob Woodward's new book about the invasion of Iraq quotes Colin Powell as telling George W. of the importance of a post-war political solution. This has apparently upset the good folks at Pottery Barn.
"You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people. You will own all their hopes, aspirations and problems. You'll own it all," Woodward quotes Powell as warning Bush about the consequences of invading Iraq. "Privately, Powell and [Deputy Secretary of State Richard] Armitage called this the Pottery Barn rule: You break it, you own it."
Yesterday, Pottery Barn's Oshirak complained bitterly: "This is certainly not our policy in any of our 174 Pottery Barn retail outlets in North America. In fact, there is no policy regarding this whatsoever."
And, instead of dealing with, like, important stuff, a State Department spokesman actually responded to this:
"I don't think anybody from the State Department would ever have intended to cast aspersions on Pottery Barn's commitment to customer service," [spokesman Adam] Ereli told me.
Oshirak shot back: "Well, it's out there."
Yes, this is surely the worst thing about the U.S. Iraq policy; that Pottery Barn is upset. Haliburton, however, seems fine with it.
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