| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Maliki and Sadr Posture; Another Defeat for Bush Claimed |
| 2008-06-14 |
| WaPo's actual front-page headline was, "Key Iraqi Leaders Deliver Setbacks to U.S." The Bush administration's Iraq policy suffered two major setbacks Friday when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki publicly rejected key U.S. terms for an ongoing military presence and anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for a new militia offensive against U.S. forces. During a visit to Jordan, Maliki said negotiations over initial U.S. proposals for bilateral political and military agreements had "reached a dead end." While he said talks would continue, his comments fueled doubts that the pacts could be reached this year, before the Dec. 31 expiration of a United Nations mandate sanctioning the U.S. role in Iraq. The moves by two of Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders underscore how the presence of U.S. troops has become a central issue for Iraqi politicians as they position themselves for provincial elections later this year. Iraqis across the political spectrum have grown intolerant of the U.S. presence, but the dominant Shiite parties -- including Maliki's Dawa party -- are especially fearful of an electoral challenge from new, grass-roots groups. "All the politicians are trying to prove that they care more about Iraqis than they do about Americans -- otherwise they know the people and the voters will not support them," said Ala Maaki, a senior lawmaker with Iraqi's largest Sunni political party. "I think we could see al-Maliki and Moqtada Sadr trying to one-up the other today and see who can take the strongest stand against the Americans." With democracy, comes politics. Maliki's comments came as Sadr called for a new armed wing of his Mahdi Army militia to fight U.S. troops. Sadr had ordered the militia to cease carrying weapons last August -- a leading factor in the recent decline in violence -- although U.S. military officials have asserted that renegade militia units have continued the fight under instructions from Iran. Sadr aides, some of whom appeared surprised by the cleric's announcement, said he wanted to issue the order now to avoid seeming as if he was responding to a U.S.-Iraqi agreement if one is reached by the July deadline. Salah al-Obaidi, Sadr's chief spokesman, said the order was essentially a full-scale reorganization of the Mahdi Army, transforming it from a militia into a permanent peaceful organization with a small armed wing of several hundred or so members. He said the cease-fire for the rest of the movement would remain in force. The new group, Sadr's statement said, would operate in "total secrecy" and attack only American forces. "The resistance will be restricted to a group authorized by a written letter from us soon," it said. "Arms will be restricted to them and they may only point them towards the occupier." You're welcome, Mookie. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #3 SOFA Sandbag Denial = Holocaust Denial Whatever happened to: honesty is the best policy. Maliki and Kharzai are 2 dirtbags who need to sleep with the fishes. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2008-06-14 22:35 |
| #2 "The resistance will be restricted to a group authorized by a written letter from us soon," That would be form BR549-19-B rev. 766. Triplicate unless you're dealing with Jooooooooos, then countersign with your Abu only. |
| Posted by: George Smiley 2008-06-14 13:43 |
| #1 OK, lemme make sure I understand the WAPO's new standard for victory or defeat: we lose if the other side calls for us to lose. Let's try that concept out in a different historical context: "The Roosevelt administration's plan for the invasion of Europe suffered a major setback when Joseph Goebbels called for its repulse." No, that just doesn't sound right. I'm obviously too dumb to read the WAPO, so I won't. |
| Posted by: Matt 2008-06-14 11:16 |