in his latest book , perilous power the middle east and us foreign policy he says , on page 87 , the new york timeshave a position , chief diplomatic correspondent , which is a euphemism for state department representative , which was thomas friedman at the time ( 1991 ) he said the best of all worlds for the united states would be an iron fisted military junta ruling iraq much the way saddam hussein did , but not him , because he is an embarrassment .