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| Iraq |
| Iraq Making Plans for Quick U.S. Pullout |
| 2007-05-22 |
| Iraq's military is drawing up plans to cope with any quick U.S. military pullout, the defense minister said Monday, as a senior American official warned that the Bush administration may reconsider its support if Iraqi leaders don't make major reforms by fall. The U.S. official did not say what actions could be taken by the White House, but his comments reflected the administration's need to show results in Iraq—as an answer to pressure by the Democrats in Congress seeking to set timetables on the U.S. military presence. With violence raging, pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki's government to demonstrate progress on key reforms or risk losing American support for the unpopular war. On Monday, Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi told reporters Iraq's military was drawing up plans in case U.S.-led forces left the country quickly. "The army plans on the basis of a worst case scenario so as not to allow any security vacuum," al-Obeidi said. "There are meetings with political leaders on how we can deal with a sudden pullout." It was unclear whether al-Obeidi's comment referred to routine contingency planning or reflected a feeling among Iraqi leaders that the days of U.S. support may be numbered even though President Bush blocked an effort by Congress to set a withdrawal timetable. Senior Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman confirmed that U.S. pressure was mounting, especially on the oil bill, which was endorsed by the Iraqi Cabinet three months ago but has yet to come to the floor of parliament. Kurdish legislators oppose the formula for distributing oil revenues among the Iraqi communities, arguing for a greater say in how the money is disbursed. Major Shiite and Kurdish parties oppose several proposed changes in the constitution, as well as Sunni Arab demands for a loosening of rules banning former Saddam Hussein supporters from government jobs. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #2 They could always function as the 'bad cop' with Bush being the 'good cop' from Iraq's perspective. Some of them do it by focusing criticism on the Maliki government rather than blaming America. This is very different than undermining our policy in ways that make it more likely to fail just so they can win another election. Unfortunately many dems go well beyond playing the 'bad cop' role and make statements that undermine our strategy. For an example, see the Al Guardian article describing how Iran thinks they can push us out of Iraq by stagine a Tet style offensive. |
| Posted by: JAB 2007-05-22 15:01 |
| #1 I give the Dems credit for only one thing. It's possible they have made some Iraqis realize the party may be coming to an end. |
| Posted by: john 2007-05-22 10:27 |