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Maliki rejects US troop withdrawal timetable
TOKYO - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki on Tuesday rejected demands by the US Congress for a timetable to pull out US troops, saying the withdrawal should be based on the reality on the ground.
The Dhimmicrats will immediately dismiss him as irrelevant; after all, he's only the prime minister.
Maliki said his government was working to improve security to make it possible for US and other foreign troops to leave. “We see no need for a withdrawal timetable because we are working as fast as we can,” Maliki told a news conference on a visit to Tokyo. “We feel what will govern the departure of the multinational forces are the achievements and victories we manage to obtain on the ground and not a timetable,” he said.

Maliki insisted the troops would leave eventually. “The departure of the multinational forces is definite. There are no arguments on this issue,” Maliki said. “The international resolution authorised the Iraqi government to ask for the departure of the multinational forces when it feels that it can provide enough security for the country. We are progressing on the security issue continuously,” he said.

Maliki, a member of Iraq’s Shia majority who were oppressed under Saddam Hussein, blamed the media for only focusing on the daily violence in Iraq. “Maybe it is natural that the ugliness of blood will overshadow the elements of progress. But I can give you many examples of progress,” Maliki said. “We have a permanent constitution after living for decades with temporary constitutions and the entire country being subjected to the whims of a ruler. On the economic side, the monthly income of the average Iraqi has risen from two dollars to 200 dollars per month” since the 2003 invasion, he said.
It's unfortunate that GWB isn't saying all this as well, and repeatedly, and loudly.
“Following the collapse of the regime, all security collapsed with it, but now we can say we have a reliable army that has taken many recruits from the old army but added new blood to it.”
Posted by: Steve White 2007-04-11
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=185530