Maliki Gives Calm Response To U.S. Criticism
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Iraq’s prime minister lashed out Wednesday at U.S. criticism, saying no one has the right to impose timetables on his elected government and that his country “can find friends elsewhere.”
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed the U.S. presidential campaign for the recent tough words about his government, from President Bush and from other U.S. politicians.
Bush on Tuesday said he was frustrated with Iraqi leaders’ inability to bridge political divisions. But he added that only the Iraqi people can decide whether to sideline al-Maliki.
“Clearly, the Iraqi government’s got to do more,” Bush said. “I think there’s a certain level of frustration with the leadership in general, inability to work—come together to get, for example, an oil revenue law passed or provincial elections.”
Bush on Wednesday will strongly reiterate his support for al-Maliki, wary of how his comments the day before about the Iraqi leader had widely been interpreted. Bush spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the president’s speech in Canada on Tuesday was not intended to be a withdrawal of support for al-Maliki. As a result of media coverage, Bush will insert a direct line of support for al-Maliki in his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars conference Wednesday.
“Prime Minister Maliki knows where the president stands,” Johndroe said before Bush’s speech.
Johndroe said that after Bush’s comments in Canada, the White House had tried to make clear Bush was not distancing himself from al- Maliki.
“It appears that did not come through for whatever reason,” Johndroe said.
Al-Maliki, on a trip to Syria, reacted harshly when asked about the earlier comments from U.S. officials.
“No one has the right to place timetables on the Iraq government. It was elected by its people,” he said at a news conference in Damascus at the end of the three-day visit to Syria.
“Those who make such statements are bothered by our visit to Syria. We will pay no attention. We care for our people and our constitution and can find friends elsewhere,” al-Maliki said.
Without naming any American official, al-Maliki said some of the criticism of him and his government had been “discourteous.”
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said Monday that al-Maliki, a Shiite, should be ousted and replaced with a less sectarian leader.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said he was disappointed and frustrated by the lack of political progress by al-Maliki’s government. Crocker said the Iraqis themselves and Iraqi leaders were also frustrated.
The harsh exchanges erupted just a few weeks before Crocker and the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, are to report to Congress on military and political progress in Iraq.
The two are expected to point to some signs of military progress in Iraq. But the political situation in Iraq remains fractured, with wide distrust between Shiite and Sunni factions and no progress by al- Maliki’s government on key issues.
Bush’s statement on Tuesday was a marked change in tone from his endorsement of al-Maliki in November 2006 at a meeting in Jordan as “the right guy for Iraq.”
In recent months, Bush has continually prodded al-Maliki to do more to forge political reconciliation before the temporary U.S. military buildup ends. But his statements Tuesday were the sharpest he has made about whether the Iraqi prime minister will survive.
“The fundamental question is, Will the government respond to the demands of the people?” Bush said. “And, if the government doesn’t demand—or respond to the demands of the people, they will replace the government. That’s up to the Iraqis to make that decision, not American politicians.”
Al-Maliki has faced numerous defections from his ruling coalition in recent months. Nevertheless, it is unclear that any group has the political pull to push him aside and put in place a new government.
Ousting al-Maliki would require a majority vote in the 275-member Iraqi parliament. As long as the Kurdish parties and the main Shiite bloc stand beside al-Maliki, his opponents lack the votes to do that.
Any change in leadership also would also greatly complicate U.S. military efforts to stabilize the country, especially if the change resulted in the government falling and negotiations to create a new government. The process of forming al-Maliki’s government took months of wrangling as the Sunni insurgency and Shiite militias gathered strength and influence.
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
So Maliki has other friends huh? With friends like Syria and Iran, who needs enemies. The only vote that is necessary to get rid of Maliki could easily come from the tribes. And Maliki knows damn well, that the tribes don’t normally vote with paper…They do their voting with an A-K.
So fuck him.
Imagine an Iraq made up of three autonomous areas, each area led by a tribal chief or governor with Baghdad as the spiritual capital. The PM would be a figurehead position that would be answerable to a Parliment appointed by tribal chiefs.
Real power would be retained by the tribes and whose leaders could be elected by the people.
Sharing oil and oil revenues could be split between the three regions,by making advance payments to pump the oil (to the Kurds by Shia and Sunnis)…to let the oil travel through Sunni territory(payments made to Sunnis by Kurds and Shia), and sold to client countries by Shias where they would recover their cost of doing business with the Kurds and Sunnis, and have the money to pay for more pumping and transiting of oil. A profit would be factored in to all transactions, so nobody gets ripped off. The plan would require cooperation by all parties in order to pump, transport and sell oil to clients.
Democracy won’t work in Iraq. Tribal power is where it is at. That’s where the real power in Iraq is.
Shit-ites have proved once again, that they are incapable of running anything. Iran is the exception, only because they are a western-oriented society. Their achilles heal is their theocratic dictatorship.
The lust for power covered by theocratic rhetoric is the achilles heal of Al-Sadr. And Maliki is turning into another useful idiot of Mookie and his Iraniac puppeteers.
It will be the undoing of Iraq, if this clown stays in power much longer….or if we leave too soon.
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:37 amthis guy has a shit load of nerve to talk like that..we have poured billions of dollars, lost around 3700 of our bravest not to mention the countless injured for that desert waste land called Iraq, and he says he’ll find friends elsewhere. And they took a vacation without getting anything done..do our troops get a vacation? no
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:38 amlevin your an ass, and your state is in the toilet, YOU should be replaced with a less sectarian leader, one who will work for the betterment of the whole state and not just the special interests that you own you.
Of course, your elected by the people of the state of Michigan, and they are the ones that have the power to remove you. What is the difference in Iraq?
Are you in support of the Monroe Doctrine being applied in the middle east? You think we actually own the middle east and can do what we want, when we want?
levins comments are just a part of the attempt by the d’rats to still win American defeat in Iraq by trying to destroy political stability. If that bastard levin supported his nation over his personal power lust, he would try to encourage the elected government of Iraq to work through it’s difficulties rather than slam them and in effect declare it a lost cause.
This attack on the government of Iraq by the d’rats is no different than dirty reid stating that ‘this war is lost’.
What is so f*cking sick about this is that a politically stable, democratic Iraq is a path to ‘redeploy’ our troops, as he would put it.
Well it is working for them, given the statement by Al-Maliki.
Again American defeat in Iraq is vital to the democrats.
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:55 amI love the way the libs like Levin will fall to their knees and suck the balls of and unelected dictator like assad but will talk tough and threaten to oust a democratically elected ally like Maliki (OK OK I agree his government has been dissapointing but no nore so than our congress and it is less than a year old and is struggling against much tougher issues than the boobs we elected).
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:27 amlevin is the poster fatty for treason.. he is trying to take down a duly elected gov’t.. and that is against our law.. he wants to destroy all that we have accomplished so far,, and maliki is trying to save his country fm an invasion of sunni fm syria and shits fm iran,, and hold a shaky gov’t together to boot.. our political leaders need to let that young gov’t try and work out their differences.. levin needs to hide in the capital cafetferia with kennedy and feingold… and let the losing ways go to obama bin laden and hellery slim.. my son msged fm ramadi and all is going according to plan and moving into diyalya prov… bagdhaad and boston are next to be conquered…
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:37 amdad 3/7, I agree with everything you said!
August 22nd, 2007 at 3:07 pmHooah!
My favorite part is “shits fm iran.”–Love it!
When you msg your son back, would you please tell your son and his band of brothers and sisters that we love and support them and are praying for their safe, victorious return home someday soon!
God bless them all.
thanx jen,, will do,,,but there are no sis in the grunts.. but i will tell my daughter that is also an OIF vet and an air force capt….i have talked to 2 to 3 hundred moms,dads and spouses all over the U.S. these past 18mon.. and everyone,, and i mean EVERYONE, have shown great disgust in the way the dummycrats have lied and mislead the people of this country on the state of affairs in iraq and afghanistan…the kids in country and those that have returned (must be over half a million by now) are dismayed at the level of misconception of the truth,,,MSM has done a great job in lying and distorting..thanx to all that pray for our troops (all volunteers) no matter their branch or mos…proud DAD…
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:52 pm