Prime Minister Nuri Kamal ‘Scapegoat’ al-Maliki

September 28, 2006

Last week, senior American officials leaked word to the New York Times that they’re no longer confident that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has what it takes to hold the country together. Patience, the NYT reported, is “wearing thin.”

A week later, U.S. officials are still getting the word out.

Senior U.S. military commanders are questioning whether Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has the political will to weed out official corruption and tackle the brutal militias that are threatening to plunge Iraq into civil war. […]

The questions about Maliki are being posed only privately, with U.S. officials in their public statements still voicing cautious confidence in Maliki’s ability to recognize and tackle the problems.

And speaking of problems, the past week saw the highest number of suicide bomb attacks of any week since the American-led invasion in 2003.

You don’t suppose Maliki will be held out as a scapegoat, do you? The Bush gang wouldn’t do that, would they?

Might not the Iraqi Prime Minister hire Saddam as a consultant?

  • Of course Maliki is being scapegoated. But as long as Maliki doesn’t speak out asking the U.S. to leave, he’s only got himself to blame…

    Maliki’s up against a huge majority of Iraqis WHO WANT US OUT. Just look at the numbers from the PIPA poll:

    How about the 71% of Iraqis who want us out in 1 year? Of whom half want us out in 6 months?

    Also, a whopping 97% of Sunnis think the U.S. is “provoking more conflict than it’s preventing”. I’ve never seen a 97% number in any poll. About anything. Ever. The number for Shi’ites is 84%.

    http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/sep06/Iraq_Sep06_rpt.pdf

  • Dammit, why can’t we pre-emptively invade a country with a precarious ethnic balance and no history of democracy, in a volatile region pervaded with Islamic funadmentalism, next door to an aggressive, opportunist Iran, occupy them with a force that is ludicrously short in manpower, local knowhow, and international credibility, and get a strong leader who imposes order and unifies people while respecting secularism and democracy? Is that too much to ask???

  • How can any American involved in the Iraq occupation even muster up the balls to suggest the Iraqi PM was not doing enough to fight official corruption! Did the Mayor of Basra charge the US government $35,000 for a Super-Bowl party then keep it all for themselves? Did the Tikrit city counsel bill the US Army for 30,000 meals it did not serve to it’s people? Did $8BB of funds allocated by Congress go missing while under the watchful eye of MR. al-Maliki?

    Friggin tools!

  • Why the hell do we have any U.S. troops in Iraq if all the unsolved problems of the country are the fault of either Iraqi security forces or Iraqi leaders? Or, if we can’t actively solve any of the country’s problems, how can we expect them to be able to.

    Life is so easy for the Bush circle: nothing is ever your fault.

  • Listen, this guy will be lucky if he doesn’t wind up in a ziploc bag at the bottom of the Euphrates. The Bushistas have only so much patience to go around.

  • I want to know just how Rove is going to spin deposing the democratically elected prime minister of a parlimentary democracy is “making things better in Iraq”. Because that sounds like what they plan to do.

    And just whom, might I ask, are they planning to put in his place? President Talibani who is busy threatening his neighbors?

  • Those naughty Iraqis. Just because the Americans selected to run things in Iraq were chosen because they kissed Shrubya’s ass the best and played foot ball with packs of $100 bills doesn’t mean they get to be corrupt scumballs too.

    Also, does it strike anyone else as odd that military personnel are commenting on what a foreign political body needs to do? I’m not saying these guys are wrong, I’m just saying they shouldn’t have to, because its not their friggin’ job.

  • I think the lesson learned from Iraq is, sadly to say: Leave the dictators in place. Stability is better than anything that can be achieved by interfering militarily.

  • “What’s that old saying about “Dance with the devil….”

    Omigod!! Omigod!! Omigod!! Devil!! Devil!! Devil!!

    • Comments are closed.