On July 28, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued a press release, in effect congratulating the Kurdistan Regional Government for its elections and stating, “representatives from the U.S. Mission in Iraq closely followed the elections at polling stations throughout the Kurdistan Region.”

Today, the Kurdish press is reporting that Masud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) used intelligence officials as poll watchers in at least two cities, releasing the names and ranks reflecting that they had acquired a leaked document. This coincides with reports that KDP officials inside the polling stations demanded that voters prove their loyalty by showing their ballots before putting them in ballot boxes.

If this is true, it is an indication of just how naive U.S. observers are, and just how much various Iraqi factions takes advantage of well-meaning U.S. officials.