BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Tuesday that the era of US dominance was over, in a broadside to Washington almost six years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. The Shiite premier, boosted by the strong showing by his allies in provincial elections, said Iraq was now taking charge of its own destiny and was making good progress toward rebuilding the war-torn country.
His remarks were a pointed rebuke to US Vice President Joe Biden, who last week said Washington would have to be more aggressive in pushing Baghdad toward faster political reform.
Ah, the Bambi administration, making friends and winning influence around the world ...
The time for putting pressure on Iraq is over, Maliki told reporters, asked about Bidens comments. The Iraqi government knows what are its responsibilities. We are carrying out reform and we are in the last step of the reconciliation.
Biden said the January 31 provincial electionsin which Malikis allies triumphedhad shown that progress was being made, but more needed to be done as Iraqs leaders had not gotten their political arrangements together yet.
The new US administration of President Barack Obama would have to be much more aggressive... forcing them to deal with those issues, Biden said.
Malikis remarks are a strong signal ahead of a general election due to be held in about a year that he is unwilling to allow the United States to dictate how Iraq should rebuild and consolidate its fledgling democracy. We succeeded in solving problems created by Paul Bremer (head of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority put in place after the 2003 invasion), like the dismantling of the army and other institutions, he added, in another dig at the history of Americas influence in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hope! And Change! in action.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/11/2009 4:24 Comments ||
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#2
Any guesses on how long Maliki will live once US military leaves?
#3
Maliki seemed overconfident last year in hitting Basra, over our warnings, but he was successful. I think that success made him the 'strong horse' in Iraq, strong enough to attract substantial support from the general population. I suspect he can go on without us now, as long as Iran doesn't interfere. Of course, I would not be a bit surprised to see him adopt the old mid-east tactic of getting the US and Russia bidding against each other for his backing. It makes me wonder whether we knew the Iraqi government was stonger than we let on for a while, to try to keep them believing they were dependent on us - and thus keeping them from getting too close to Iran and/or Russia (and/or China, now.)
#7
Oh the hell with the clown Biden and his twink intern boss.
Allowance For Idiotic Internal Politics Circuit On: Maliki's barking for a home audience
Circuit Off: listen, you little twerp, not a single decent or civilized thing going on in your country outside of Kurdistan would be happening, or even possible, without the courage, patience, and seriousness of certain US political leaders now gone from the scene, US and Coalition military personnel, and a few foreign civilians. US "dominance" translates as: payrolls get paid, not stolen; projects (generally) get completed, not derailed; detainees are taken on a reasonable basis and well-treated while in custody; foreign (including sub-human Sunni Arab and Persian IRGC) interlopers are thwarted, hunted, and defeated; the competence and integrity of every process with a US influence is immeasurably greater than anything ever seen in the entire Arab world, or likely to be seen for several generations.
Remember, "honor/shame" culture is a euphemism coined by apologists - such cultures, almost utterly, lack any honor of any sort. In that vein, all Iraqis who fail to show gratitude and respect for the US and what it has done for Iraq can drop dead, as can their children, grandchildren, first and second cousins, clan chiefs, imams, and flocks of sheep.
Eliminating the Ba'athist regime and replacing it with something far better was in our interests, but most Iraqis remain completely unworthy of the sacrifice of one US soldier.
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