Here's the sequence of events. An internal Bush administration memo trashed Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al Mailki before Bush held a summit in November 2006 with the man Bush had previously tagged "an interesting cat". When Bush emerged from that summit pronoucing al-Maliki "the right man for the job" I knew that was the same kiss of death given "Brownie" at FEMA and "Rummy" at DoD.
Subsequent developments are bearing out my pronouncemet of Maliki's pending fall from grace and power (such as he has). We waited until after the Nov 7, 2006 U.S. midterm elections for the Iraq Study Group to release its recommendations, and we waited until Jan 10, 2007 for The Decider-in-Chief to announce he had decided to escalate the war.
On Jan 11, 2007 Pentagon briefers told reporters that it was Maliki's idea for Bush to send more troops. Actually, Maliki wants U.S. troops out of Baghdad and to be allowed to conduct internal affairs in his sovereign country as he sees fit. Bush will have none of that.
John Burns of the NY Times has reported on Maliki's objections to and resentment of Bush sending more U.S. troops. Maliki doesn't want U.S. commanders looking over his shoulder, and he doesn't relish "giving them the green light" to go wherever they want and to do whatever they choose.
So Maliki's days are numbered. Secretary of State Rice was overheard on a microphone that she didn't know was open saying “I Don't Want To…Look Like We…Just Sort Of Beat Their Brains Out”…. As we know from his track record, it is Bush's way or the highway.
Rice has since said that Maliki's time is running out to curb the sectarian violence. That is also an implied threat against Maliki IMO.
Look for Maliki's government to fall and for him to be replaced by a "strongman" - an "unSaddam" - someone like CIA asset Iyad Allawi. Intrigue? Indeed!
U.S. says Maliki knows time is running out
quote:Further evidence that the Maliki government isn't doing what Bush wants - even the Kurds. They are talking to Syria. That is something that the Iraq Study Group recommended but Bush has nixed. Stay tuned for more intrigue, more accusations of Iranian meddling in Iraq, and covert or overt U.S. attacks on Iran. That is Bush's only strategy. The Texas Gambler is rolling the dice for high stakes. He is gambling with American soldiers' lives and American taxpayers' hard earned money. Easy come, easy go, eh George?
By Claudia Parsons
Reuters Fri Jan 12, 6:09 AM ET
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said some Iraqi leaders had miscalculated before thinking U.S. support would go on unconditionally but now they realize the patience of the American people is running out.
In an interview with CNN broadcast on Friday, Khalilzad echoed comments by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government was living "on borrowed time." Khalilzad said Maliki realized diplomacy had not succeeded in dismantling militias and it was time for action.
President Bush said he planned to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq as part of a new direction in Iraq that also involved putting more pressure on Iraqis to solve their political differences and take over their own security.
U.S. lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled Congress hammered Bush's plan to send more troops, and many in Iraq questioned how much difference they can make. But Khalilzad said this time the Iraqi government was ready to take decisive action.
"The president has been very resolute from the get go (from the start) and some people here have miscalculated perhaps, thinking no matter what they do or do not do support will go on because of the rock solid stand the president has taken," Khalilzad told CNN.
"The president has sent a very good strong message that the patience of the American people is running out," he said.
Khalilzad said Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist, had pledged his commitment to crack down on Shi'ite militias -- a key demand of Washington and the Sunni Arab minority who blame the militias for operating death squads.
NO SANCTUARY
Washington has identified the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, as the greatest threat to security in Iraq. Maliki, who depends on Sadr's political movement for support in parliament and government, has struggled to rein in the Mehdi Army, despite numerous pledges to allow nobody but the armed forces to carry weapons.
Asked if this time Maliki would really go after the Mehdi Army, Khalilzad said: "He has pledged this to the president of the United States, there will be no sanctuary. He has said to me that he has given diplomacy a chance with the militias, now we have to do whatever is necessary to get the job done."
"This is the best chance they have to move and if they don't move they know that there's a lot at risk for them as well."
~~~snip~~~
Iraqi president to visit Syria
quote:
AFP Fri Jan 12, 5:44 AM ET
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will fly to Damascus for talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, an official at Talabani's office told AFP.
"On Sunday the president will go to Damascus with a big delegation," he said, adding that Talabani was the first Iraqi president to visit Damascus in three decades.
The spokesman said the two leaders are expected to sign a range of "security and commercial agreements between the two countries."
Iraq and Syria restored diplomatic ties in November after a 26-year break, during visit by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem who pledged to help in securing Iraq.
Washington has repeatedly accused Syria of turning a blind eye towards foreign fighters using its territory for entering Iraq to participate in a raging anti-US insurgency, but Baghdad has insisted on building ties.
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