2009-03-25 Iraqi visitors to Raleigh wonder who runs government

2009-03-25 Bob Geary Independent Weekly \Raleigh, NC\US-Iraq relations\North Carolina http://www.indyweekblogs.com/triangulator/2009/03/25/iraqi-visitors-to-raleigh-wonder-who-runs-your-government-again/ Iraqi visitors to Raleigh wonder: Who runs your government, again? Iraqi visitors to Raleigh wonder who runs government  For an hour yesterday, Raleigh City Councilors Russ Stephenson .. and Nancy McFarlane attempted to explain our uniquely American system of democracy to nine visiting Iraqi mayors, clerics and researchers from Anbar Province. (Anbar: heart of the Sunni triangle. Raleigh: heart of the Research Triangle.) When we caught up with Stephenson today, he was afraid that perhaps something got lost in the translation — as rendered by a total of six translators. The Iraqis quickly grasped our “Dillon Rule,” which says that no local government in North Carolina can do anything without prior authorization from the General Assembly. Saddam, the visitors said, had a similar rule: Every capital project in Iraq, no matter how big or small, was approved by Saddam.

Beyond the Dillon Rule, however, Stephenson thinks, our intergovernmental ways were a little murky to the Iraqis.

&ldquo;For an hour yesterday, Raleigh City Councilors Russ Stephenson .. and Nancy McFarlane attempted to explain our uniquely American system of democracy to nine visiting Iraqi mayors, clerics and researchers from Anbar Province.&rdquo;   