Maliki raises possibility that Iraq might ask U.S. to leave

GO HOME!
Should such a thing happen it will be quite interesting to see how it plays out.

Will the idiot or the next President take the opportunity? It is the perfect out.

My guess is the moron won't do it and neither will McCain. They both want US troops there indefinitely and undoubtedly couldn't care less what the UN or Maliki have to say about it. But it would raise the ire of most nations of the world when they've been asked to vacate Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki raised the possibility that his country won't sign a status of forces agreement with the United States and will ask U.S. troops to go home when their U.N. mandate to be in Iraq expires at the end of the year.

Maliki made the comment after weeks of complaints from Shiite Muslim lawmakers that U.S. proposals that would govern a continued troop presence in Iraq would infringe on Iraq's sovereignty.

"Iraq has another option that it may use," Maliki said during a visit to Amman, Jordan. "The Iraqi government, if it wants, has the right to demand that the U.N. terminate the presence of international forces on Iraqi sovereign soil."

Note: Headline links to source.

Iraq to review security contracts

It appears Maliki blinked.

The Iraqi Cabinet decided Tuesday to review the status of all foreign security companies amid mounting public outrage over the alleged killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy's security provider Blackwater USA.

Exploiting that anger, anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded the government ban all 48,000 foreign security contractors, whom Iraqis have long viewed as mercenaries.

The Iraqi government appeared to back down from statements Monday that it had revoked Blackwater's license and would order its 1,000 personnel to leave the country — depriving American diplomats of security protection essential to operating in Baghdad.

"We are not intending to stop them and revoke their license indefinitely but we do need them to respect the law and the regulation here in Iraq," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told CNN.

Via Yahoo! News.

To arm or not to arm?

Recent headlines:

Reuters - U.S. should stop arming Sunni militias: PM Maliki

Al Jazeera - Maliki supports arming Sunni tribes

The Al Jazeera headline is only two hours old whereas the Reuters headline is a few days old. The logical explanation is the puppet has been manipulated by the puppet masters.

One hundred eighty degree changes in position aren't just "adjustments" in one's stand.

Al-Sadr orders Cabinet ministers to quit government

Muqtada al-Sadr's picture is on the left. The picture
on the right is his father, Mohammed Sadek al-Sadr.

I've said it many times (just search for Sadr on the right sidebar). This guy is powerful and he's been ignored as if a minor player in Iraq.

Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his Cabinet ministers to withdraw from the Iraqi government immediately, the head of his parliamentary bloc said today.

Al-Sadr’s ministers will “withdraw immediately from the Iraqi government and give the six Cabinet seats to the government, with the hope that they will be given to independents who represent the will of the people,” said Nassar al-Rubaie, head of al-Sadr’s bloc, reading a statement from the cleric.

Al-Sadr’s followers hold six seats in the 37-member Cabinet.

Their withdrawal would deal a blow to the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who relied on support from the Sadrists to gain office.

Oh yes, you will rarely see Muqtada al-Sadr's name in a story not preceded by "radical cleric", "radical Islamic cleric", "radical Shiite cleric" or some variation on those themes. Perhaps "political power broker" might be more appropriate.

Maybe that's why I think this picture speaks volumes in addition to the one above.


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UN Secretary-General escapes Iraq blast unharmed

Anyone care to go over with me how the SURGE™ is supposed to make everything safer or how well its going?

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was unharmed, but ducked behind the podium after a rocket or mortar landed near Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s office today while the two men were speaking to reporters at a Baghdad news conference.

Small chips of debris floated down from the ceiling above the UN chief after the big explosion rattled the building in the Green Zone.

Yes, inside the Green Zone. The Fort Knox of Iraq.

Note to military: You need not mention the insurgents are getting better, more sophisticated, smarter and dangerous. Its obvious as hell.

(courtesy link)

Is this thing working?

Not sure if this post will work. Blogger hasn't for hours now. If so, here we go.

Bush just planted a great big fat wet kiss of death on Alberto Gonzales' lips and Al probably doesn't even realize it. To wit.

Call it the wrong phrase at the wrong time but "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job" was named on Thursday as U.S. President George W. Bush's most memorable phrase of 2005.

From CommonDreams.org.

Calling himself "the decider" the President today launched a second public defence of Donald Rumsfeld, insisting he will remain in the job.

From abc.net.au

President Bush pushed back against some suggestions by some skeptical Republicans that Harriet Miers was not conservative enough, insistin on Tuesday that his nominee to the Supreme Court shares his strict-constructionist views.

"I know her heart," Bush told a Rose Garden news conference. "Her philosophy won't change."

From abclocal.go.com

George Bush sought to patch up relations with Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, at a brief summit in Amman yesterday, describing him as the "right guy for Iraq and we're going to help him".

OK, so this guy is still around, but not for long. Just you wait and see.

From guardian.co.uk

The White House expressed President Bush's support Monday for Secretary of State Colin Powell in response to a report that he did not plan to serve in a second term.

"The president thinks he is doing an outstanding job and appreciates the job that he is doing," Press Secretary Scott McClellan said. "The president looks forward to Secretary Powell continuing to work with him in our foreign policy realm."

From english.people.com.cn

Ya need any more examples? Look them up yourself. I'm too lazy.

Iraq, US Advised To Avoid Offensive Against Militias

Two guesses what Bush will do. If you guessed attack the militias you win. No prizes, but don't you feel good about being right?

raqi and U.S. forces should not launch a military offensive against the militias - most of them Shiite - that are a major source of turmoil in Iraq, but should instead rely on nonviolent steps to bring militiamen into the political fold, according to an Iraqi report that draws largely on the views of prominent Shiite politicians.

"In the short-term at least, there can be no military offensive against the militias. Military confrontation, in the current climate, will only strengthen their appeal and swell their ranks," the Baghdad Institute for Public Policy Research concludes.

The institute said the 18-page report, "Dismantling Iraq's Militias," was based on a round-table discussion by six Shiite politicians, two Kurds and a Sunni Arab. Government officials said Thursday it would be considered in setting policy, but some here saw it as reflecting the private thinking of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as more U.S. troops arrive to try to end the violence.

Maliki has publicly declared that the joint effort will target all lawbreakers equally, regardless of sectarian affiliation but, late last year, his advisers said the prime minister was urging the Americans to combat Sunni groups while Iraqi forces focused on Shiite militias.

"The tense situation between the Mahdi Army militia and the U.S. military means that it would be unwise for multinational forces to go into Shia strongholds at this stage," says the report. The Mahdi Army is led by anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a key Maliki supporter.

Many Iraqi officials say previous Baghdad security plans failed because Maliki did not take a tough stance against that militia.

How could there be a non-anti-American cleric or sectarian in Iraq at this point, excepting Maliki and he ain't very pro-American either.

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