Iraq PM: Country Can Manage Without US ‘Any Time They Want’
BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave “any time they want,” though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training.
The embattled prime minister sought to show confidence at a time when congressional pressure is growing for a withdrawal and the Bush administration reported little progress had been made on the most vital of a series of political benchmarks it wants al-Maliki to carry out.
Al-Maliki said difficulty in enacting the measures was “natural” given Iraq’s turmoil.
But one of his top aides, Hassan al-Suneid, rankled at the assessment, saying the U.S. was treating Iraq like “an experiment in an American laboratory.” He sharply criticized the U.S. military, saying it was committing human rights violations, embarrassing the Iraqi government with its tactics and cooperating with “gangs of killers” in its campaign against al-Qaida in Iraq.
Al-Suneid’s comments were a rare show of frustration toward the Americans from within al-Maliki’s inner circle as the prime minister struggles to overcome deep divisions between Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish members of his coalition and enact the American-drawn list of benchmarks.
In new violence in Baghdad on Saturday, a car bomb leveled a two-story apartment building, and a suicide bomber plowed his explosives-packed vehicle into a line of cars at a gas station. The two attacks killed at least eight people, police officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorize to release details of the attacks.
Thursday’s White House assessment of progress on the benchmarks fueled calls among congressional critics of the Iraqi policy for a change in strategy, including a withdrawal of American forces.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari warned earlier this week of civil war and the government’s collapse if the Americans leave. But al-Maliki told reporters Saturday, “We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the responsibility completely in running the security file if the international forces withdraw at any time they want.”
But he added that Iraqi forces are “still in need of more weapons and rehabilitation” to be ready in the case of a withdrawal.
On Friday, the Pentagon conceded that the Iraqi army has become more reliant on the U.S. military. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, said the number of Iraqi batallions able to operate on their own without U.S. support has dropped in recent months from 10 to six, though he said the fall was in part due to attrition from stepped-up offensives.
Al-Maliki told a Baghdad press conference that his government needs “time and effort” to enact the political reforms that Washington seeks - “particularly since the political process is facing security, economic and services pressures, as well as regional and international interference.”
“These difficulties can be read as a big success, not negative points, when they are viewed under the shadow of the big challenges,” he said.
In the White House strategy, beefed-up American forces have been waging intensified security crackdowns in Baghdad and areas to the north and south for nearly a month. The goal is to bring quiet to the capital while al-Maliki gives Sunni Arabs a greater role in the government and political process, lessening support for the insurgency.
But the benchmarks have been blocked by divisions among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders. In August, the parliament is taking a one month vacation - a shorter break than the usual two months, but still enough to anger some in Congress who say lawmakers should push through the measures.
Al-Suneid, a Shiite lawmaker close to al-Maliki, bristled at the pressure. He called Thursday’s report “objective,” but added, “this bothers us a lot that the situation looks as if it is an experiment in an American laboratory (judging) whether we succeed or fail.”
He also told The Associated Press that al-Maliki has problems with the top U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus, who works along a “purely American vision.”
He criticized U.S. overtures to Sunni groups in Anbar and Diyala, encouraging former insurgents to join the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq. “These are gangs of killers,” he said.
“There are disagreements that the strategy that Petraeus is following might succeed in confronting al-Qaida in the early period but it will leave Iraq an armed nation, an armed society and militias,” said al-Suneid.
He said that the U.S. authorities have embarrassed al-Maliki’ government through acts such as constructing a wall around Baghdad’s Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah and repeated raids on suspected Shiite militiamen in the capital’s eastern slum of Sadr City. He said the U.S. use of airstrikes to hit suspected insurgent positions also kills civilians.
“This embarrasses the government in front of its people,” he said, calling the civilian deaths a “human rights violation.”
© 2007 The Associated Press
Awesome.
Lets get out of there. They want us out. The People want out. Lets get OUT.
Let the Guard be Guards. You know. Defense - that is what they are for. Get all other troops OUT. What are we doing there?
Peace,
Ken Hausle
* I support HRes333 - Impeach the VP
US troops are now fighting the cops outside the Green Zone. I mean really, some people aren’t getting paid off properly. It’s a gang/turf war.
It’s all wonderful stuff for some Americans though — let’s keep this thing going. Ah, the life in Loudoun County. Huge paychecks working at ITT, Northrup or Titan(L3). War forever, we need to defeat them there before they attack our paychecks here!
The Iraq government says it doesn’t need the U.S. Then there’s no reason for our fine young men and women to remain there another day. Someone should read al Maliki’s statement to Bush since the man obviously cannot read.
Good enough for me. If they can handle it, we’re out. Bye. Be sure to write…
What this line from the article really means…
He criticized U.S. overtures to Sunni groups in Anbar and Diyala, encouraging former insurgents to join the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq. “These are gangs of killers,” he said.
The US morons who orchestrated this mess in the first place are now arming the very insurgents against whom they fight. What goal this achieves besides perpetuating violence and gauranteeing more violence is not clear.
Similiar to firing Saddam’s very organized and well trained army, it seems that haliburton is running this war in order to keep it going forever…
Hasn’t there been enough bloodshed yet. What is it going to take?
God-blessed haliburton - shame and more shame. And how about some karma wrapping around. Tight. With might.
Peace,
Ken Hausle
* I support HRes333 - Impeach the VP
** I’m excited about the new US that is coming…..
I am beginning to believe that this Crusade was just a war to make profits by a few immoral corporations. In order to keep these profits coming in, the war must continue, the longer we are there the longer it goes on. If no one, not the Iraqi government, nor the population wants us there, then it appears that the only reason we ARE there is to support the war profiteers.
Haliburton, KBR, Blackwater, and the rest of the war profiteers that bankroll W have a vested interest to keep the conflict going. In order to maintain their immoral profits comming, the war must go on, and on, and on!!!
This all ends when these corproations are put out of business and their leaders put in jail, (China has a great way to stop this, it hangs the State criminals)
Please, please, please let this get MSM attention!
Quote:
Edward1793 July 14th, 2007 2:02 pm
I am beginning to believe that this Crusade was just a war to make profits by a few immoral corporations. In order to keep these profits coming in, the war must continue, the longer we are there the longer it goes on.
Endquote;
Yes Edward - this is the long and short of it. I am surprised you - a Common Dreamer - are ‘beginning to believe’ it just now in 2007. The nightmare continues…..with the Congress and the People dazed, confused and not fully enraged.
Mr Bush, and especially his ex-lapdog Blair, many times had claimed that they were in Iraq at the invitation of Iraqi government, and that anytime that government asked them to leave, they would oblige. But there is something else going on here:
America now wants to get out, and Bush needed a good excuse to free him of any blame. So, he asked Maliki to do him a favor and ask the U.S. forces to get out. I don’t think a puppet can tell his master to get out, unless the master asks him to say so.
Leave Iraq. Impeach Bush, Cheney and Gonzalez.
JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not until people like you disappear Crackerjack69.
Don’t be fooled by this talk for one minute. He knows darn well, as does the Bush administration, that Haliburton and its ilk, our massive embassy, and our 100 demands will still be around for a long time to come.
“Oh I’m so mad at my Maine representative”. Well I really am. Tom Allen voted against this war and has voted for every bill to finance it with the excuse “must support the troops”. And in the dozens of return emails from him he has reminded me that he voted against it and has authored a bill that made a *complete* leave of Iraq, whenever that happened. Hows come the people always know, at least the ones that take the time to inform themselves, that their congressional representatives are lying through their teeth? He’ll vote for whatever is coming down the pike that gets us out but leaves endless “support” in place. Grrrr…
Who cares what Maliki says? He’s a complete stooge of the Bush administration and has now made the ridiculous statement that the U.S. can leave anytime it wants to. Bush has no intention of leaving Iraq and this is merely a whitewash to make it look like the “surge” is making progress. In fact, the surge is a complete disaster and Maliki is nervously eying the next plane to Monaco where he can enjoy his pilfered wealth.
This program of arming rebels to fight Al-Qaida sounds so familiar… thinking of the 1980s in Afghanistan, for instance. I agree with the PM, honestly, that this program will lead in the long term to a country even more well armed to the teeth. However, the only way to “win” this war is for the warring sides to come to some kind of compromise. The US presence has never and will never help the situation… our troops are not the answer to the mess George W Bush caused.
I wonder if this keeps Dubya or Cheney up at night? I think I already know the answer to that one.
They forget to mention that the “Benchmarks” are just the left over oil deals that Bush/Cheney promised there oil buddies . . . .
If the Army leaves . . . Cheney looses his leverage in getting the oild deals . . .
Let me see if I have this straight.
We invade Iraq with “shock and awe”, destroy their cities, infrastucture, economy, destroy centuries old holy sites, steal ancient treasures from their museums, cause millions to leave the country to save their lives, and kill approximately 1 million Iraqi civilians in order to liberate them. And now we are sore, because they are not holding up their end of the bargain?
If this was a movie, we would all say it was too far-fetched.
And goddess, if only it was a movie and we could just hit eject.
Impeach Cheney…HR 333…Dennis Kucinich the only one with courage. My representatve, Darlene Hooley, can only answer my emails with form letters.
excellent comments Sky Sonja.
We actually have killed every single soul in Iraq with the use of depleted uranium in weapons. They are ALL dead from radiation posioning. It will just be a few years before they fall over and close their eyes for the final time.
P/S ALL of our troops are slowly dying from it also. It will take up to thirty years for some of them, but they are all dead and a lot have already died from inhaling DU dust.
The day the last US forces are redeployed out of Iraq, everything that gores on there is no longer our responsibiity but the Iraqi’s responsibility. I’ll bet that faced with 80% of the population in solidarity against them, the Sunnis wil.l suddenly become much more interested in negotiating than terrorizing.
If they are not, then I think that armed and trained Shia and Kurd people are quite capable of defending themselves. Once the government istablized we shouod fly another C-130 with 18 or so billion more dollars this time to be received and disbursed by the Iraqis to begin repairing the dstruction we have caused to their country.
SkySonja,
That is what is so unbelieveable and outrageous about these guys in the Congress. We completely destroy Iraq and our Congress blames it on the Iraqi government’s inability to meet benchmarks. In other words, these guys act like the Founding Fathers and expect democracy to catch hold and function within a two year period in Iraq. And when it fails to happen, our Congress throws a temper tantrum. I say throw them all out of office in addition to the Bush Administration!
What business did Bush have in attempting to have Iraq embrace a Democracy in the first place, one like ours has now evolved into perhaps?___ Oops, it was the second or third place. The first place was because of weapons of mass destruction. I forgot.
Then we blanket the entire country with deadly, radio-active, depleted uranium dust, which is pretty much the last word on weapons of mass destruction. Then we fail to secure the borders, fail to repair the electrical power, which among many other important things, we bombed to smitherines. Then we give a no bid contract to Haliburton so they can repair everything and feed our troops etc. And they took the multi-billions and laughed all the way to Cheney’s bank, and the entire stinking mess is all the Iraqie government fault. Oh, a government Bush Jr. put into power. Saddam and his sons are dead, we managed to kill them off. And now a lot of the Iraqis, wish he were still in charge.
Is this all a bad dream? Did we actually do that? Stand up and swear to the almighty, that you knew this was going to happen. I can’t, I would never, ever have believed it. I still don’t, it must be a dream,____not a Common Dream though.
All this silly talk about impeachment. Bush does not answer subpoenas. He cannot be impeached. He commands all four branches of the US gov’t: Executive, legislative, judicial, and most importantly, the military. He will simply ignore any charges, will continue the occupation and further prove the impotence of congress. Every thwarted action that congress takes will further erode any effectiveness that it possesses. Bush’s legacy is Democratic Dictatorship in the USA.
Maliki is right. In order to turn the rest of the Sunni resistance against Al Qaeda in Iraq, the U.S. has had to promise to deliver weapons to those non Al Qaeda Sunni resistance forces.
Don’t expect the US to empower the Maliki Government by giving Iraq’s troops too many weapons and ways of getting around. That would give too much Iraqi government independence from the U.S. forces. The U.S. figures that although Maliki is the democratically elected Prime Minister, he is a Shia, and hence probably sympathetic to Shi’ite Iran. Maliki doesn’t even control the Iraqi forces - the U.S. still runs them and Maliki can’t do anything about it. As well the U.S. deliberately keeps Iraq’s forces below strength so everone will believe that the U.S. can’t leave.
.
Uh, hey Dick, can we leave now? Let me know sumpthin soon,
Dubya
How can we possible leave there now? Bush made so many big plans to become dictator of Iraq beginning in January of 2009 after his stint here in America!
“What goal this achieves besides perpetuating violence and gauranteeing more violence is not clear”
‘
If you are trying to 1) limit the Oil that flows to China and 2) bring the price of crude up to $100/barrel, Chaos is good. That’s why they’d think that turning Iran into a glass parkinglot is OK. They don’t get the Oil, but no one else does either.
Ken Hausle has it right, the Iraqis want US out, our Troops want US out, the American People want US out, a tiny minority of myopic greeed heads want US to “stay the course”.
Pundit also has a good point. Even if Congress impeached Bush and Cheney, how do we get them out of office? I mean physically? They obviously believe that they are not subject to Congress’ will and since they own the Justice Department, there’s no enforcement force that can perpwalk them out of the WhiteHouse.
In my wildest dreams Bush will escape with his entourage (including the entire U.S. House and Senate) to the new Crawford ranch in Paraguay, South America. I do believe he has a deal where no Americans can be extradited for War Crimes. Pity. But at least he and his “team” will be where they can do no more harm. (Of course they’ll have to have ankle bracelets on and we’ll have to “monitor” them to make sure they don’t get any more REALLY EVIL IDEAS).
Reminds me of a line from a Bob Dylan song: “Sometimes I think this world is one big prison yard. Some of us are prisoners, the rest of us are guards.”
Paraguay will be his/their prison. At least, again back to my “wildest” dreams, all these criminals in our midst will be gone, the truth about all their Neocon/corporatist crimes will be outed for the whole world to see, all their “internment camps” will be razed, the military will be neutered, the Federal Reserve will be abolished (maybe they should go to Paraguay too, since they are economic criminals, along with the bankers, creating “loans” and “money” out of THIN AIR!!), they can take the IRS with them too, since they have been stealing our money without any law to prove they have a right to it for decades….Let’s see. Who have I left out?
Maybe Paraguay can use all the mercenary Blackwater thugs who beat and abused U.S. citizens after Katrina hit and who are killing and maiming innocent Iraqis as I write this. Mercenaries who have no allegiance to the People of the United States or our Republic…any more than Bush, Cheney or the House or the Senate.
Perhaps all the Commondreams posters would like to add to the list? Oh! Just thought of another group! Diebold and any of the CIA front companies who have made the rotten electronic voting machines! They can take their machines and stick them where the sun don’t shine and go to Paraguay with Bush and Bolton “I’m with the Bush/Cheney team and I’m HERE TO STOP THE COUNT!!”.
And the lovely team of AIPAC!! God love the “chosen” people’s lawmakers in the U.S. My God! I do hope they like Paraguay!!
Anyone else belong on the list of those who need to get the F#@* out of here NOW!!!!Because like someone said before, Bush can’t be “impeached”. He’ll just ignore the subpeona! So then we’ll come to arrest him and off to Paraguay he’ll go.
Unless maybe we should try to get all their passports now????? Just a thought.
We should do lunch and have a meeting about all this and which way to proceed. The agenda? Saving the Constitution and the Republic. Remember? “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for ALL.”
Of course, all the years I said that pledge I wondered who “Richard Stands” was….but then I finally figured it out!
THIS POLICEING ACTION IS BEING USED TO PROTECT THE LARGEST OIL DEPOSITS LEFT IN THE WORLD.
WE WON THE WAR AGAINST SADAM.
THE LARGE AND VERY PERMANENT AIR BASES THAT ARE BEING CONSTRUCTED IN IRAQ ARE BEING BUILT
WITHIN AND AROUND THESE GIANT OIL FIELDS BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH.
THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN THE GREAT POOLS OF OIL WILL DRY UP, AND OUR FAR-SIGHTED LEADERS WANT TO BE SURE THAT THIS NATION, OUR NATION DOES NOT GET THE SHORT END OF THE DIP STICK
AFTER HAVING HELPED TO PUT SADAM IN POWER, THERE CAME A TIME WHEN HIS MEGOLOMANIA TURNED THIS DOG ON HIS FRIENDS, BITING THE HAND THAT FED HIM. A DOG CAN ONLY BITE THE HAND SO MANY TIMES, UNTIL IT IS TIME TO PUT HIM DOWN. HE SHOULD NOT HAVE TRIED TO ASSINATE OUR PRESIDENT, MR.BUSH SENIOR.
WE HAVE TAKEN THE WAR AGAINST AL-Q, TO THEIR OWN TURF. IF THEY WANT TO INDISCRIMINATELY DESTROY THEIR OWN COUNTRYMEN AND FELLOW MOSLEMS THEN LET IT BE SO, BRING IT ON, BETTER IN THE MIDDLE EAST THAN ON OUR SHORES
AND FINALLY, IT SEEMS WE ALL NEED TO BRUSH UP ON OUR CHRISTIAN VALUES A BIT.
1. “TIS BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE”
IT IS BETTER TO GIVE A BUTT WHIPPING THAN
TO GET ONE.
2. TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE
TREATED. IF THE PERSON YOU ARE TRYING TO
BE KIND TO CONTINUALLY SPITS IN YOU FACE,
BEATS YOU WITH A STICK, AND THREATENS TO
KILL YOUR CHILDREN, ARE YOU GOING TO
CONTINUE TO EXTEND YOUR HAND WITH OLIVE
BRANCHES OR EXTEND THE HAND WITH ARROWS?
THEY ARE SHOWING YOU HOW “THEY” WANT TO BE
TREATED BY THEIR TREATMENT TOWARD YOU AND
YOURS.
3. “TURN THE OTHER CHEEK” WHEN I AM
TALKING TO AN INDIVIDUAL AND I AM
PRESENTING MY BEST SIDE TO THAT PERSON,
AND THAT PERSON TAKES IT AS A SIGN OF
WEAKNESS IN MY CHARACTER, AND TRIES TO
UNDERHANDEDLY DO SOME DAMAGE TO ME,
THEN THAT PERSON HAD BETTER PREPARE
HIMSELF FOR THE OTHER CHEEK. BECAUSE IF
YOU DON’T LIKE THIS SIDE OF MY FACE,
YOU SURE AREN’T GOING TO LIKE THE
OTHER SIDE.
JAPAN IS A FINE EXAMPLE OF HOW WE WILL
REACT TO BEING ATTACKED, WE WILL USE ANY
NECESSARY FORCE TO WHIP YOUR BUTT, AND
AFTER WE WHIP YOU SOUNDLY, WE WIL ONCE
AGAIN EXTEND THE HAND OF FRIENDSHIP AND
HELP TO GET YOU ON YOUR FEET AGAIN.
FOR THIS IS THE AMERICAN SPIRIT.
FOR THIS IS THE AMERICAN WAY.
A-MAN LMJ
WHICH FACE IS THIS NATION GOING TO SHOW
AL-Q, DIVIDED ? OR UNITED? YOU CHOOSE.
Did anyone hear all that screaming? I couldn’t make any of it out. Oh well - no real loss I suppose because if you have to scream it, then its probably not worth hearing anyhow.
Peace,
Ken Hausle
* I support HRes333 - Impeach the VP
** I’m excited about the new US that is coming
A couple of threads up, somehow one of the unintelligent threads from an CBS or ABC poster made its way onto this message board.
To Ken Hausle:
To your “** I’m excited about the new U.S. that is coming…” If it’s the one from my “wildest dreams”….me too.
And yes, I did hear all the screaming. LMJakaMike should read the New Testament (the one with J.C.’s words in RED). That way maybe he’ll actually get the thrust of the ideas put forth by the man. Because according to what he was screaming at us, he really does not get what true Christianity is all about. Here are a few quotes from J.C.: “Seek ye the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set ye FREE.” And his final commandment at the last supper was: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Edward1793: I am beginning to believe that this Crusade was just a war to make profits by a few immoral corporations.
Gee, ya think maybe so?
This is what I have been saying since this debacle started. I told my congressman Rick Larsen that our troops illegally occupying their country were the problem.
Now four years of destruction and death and fortunes squandered they are starting to come to the same conclusion.
This is the price we pay for having such stupid people running our government.
They aren’t stupid - they’re making money hand over fist. Mission Accomplished!
Some of them are also stupid.
TO ABBYBWOOD
CHRIST GAVE ME THE STRENGTH AND PIECE OF MIND TO SPEAK MY MIND IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS TO SPEAK MY TRUTH AS I SEE IT AND NOT BE LED ASTRAY BY FEELING BELIGERANT TOWARDS THOSE WHO DISAGREE WITH ME.
“LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU”
IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A FRIEND SAYING TO THOSE FRIENDS OF HIS THAT EVEN THOUGH HE KNEW OF THEIR HUMAN WEAKNESSES,KNOWING THAT IN THE END SOME OF THOSE CLOSEST TO HIM WOULD BETRAY HIM, HIS WAS A MESAGE OF FORGIVENESS NOT CONDEMNATION A MESSAGE OF UNDENIEABLE LOVE, AND COMPASSION. THER BETRAYALS COULD NOT BREAK THAT BOND OF LOVE HE FELT FOR HIS BAND OF BROTHERS.
OUR SAVIOR ALSO SAID TO “LOVE YOUR ENEMY”.
HE DIDN’T SAY TO TRUST YOUR ENEMY, HE DIDN’T SAY NOT TO FIGHT YOUR ENEMY, HE SAID TO LOVE YOUR ENEMY, AND AFTER ALL THE FIGHTING WAS OVER TO HELP BIND AND HEAL THOSE WOUNDS THAT WE HAD INFLICTED UPON ONE ANOTHER. ONCE AGAIN, OUR BATTLES WITH JAPAN IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HIS ADMONITION TO US. MUCH CLOSER TO HOME WAS ABE LINCOLNS ADMONITION TO THE VICTORIOUS NORTH TO FORGIVE THEIR SOUTHERN BROTHERS WITH JUSTICE FOR ALL AND MALICE TOWARD NONE.
OH,BY THE WAY, I AM NOT YELLING, MY EYES ARE PRETTY BAD AND I MUST LOOK VERY CLOSELY AT THE STREAM OF INFO COMING ACROSS MY SCREEN. TYPEING IN CAPITOLS HELPS ME TO BETTER SEE WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN. I APPRECIATE YOUR FEED BACK. GOD BLESS US , AND MAY ALLAH IN ALL HIS BENEVOLENCE, HAVE MERCY ON US
LMJ
Hey LMJakaMIke: Maybe you could try using a larger font or something on your monitor.
Peace,
Ken Hausle
* I support HRes333 - Impeach the VP
** time oh time
Hi Ken, good suggestion. Do you remember the song? “Just scroll on by, look for the better, we don’t have to read the silly blogs. Just scroll on by, there are the neo’s and we all know them by their other side”.
Of course LMJack’s blogs are just abit difficult to read and I do sympathize with his poor eyesight; ever check my speling?
I found an interesting sidepiece to this article on aljazeera.
http://english.aljazeera.net/News/aspx/print.htm
An adviser to Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister, has accused US forces of committing human rights violations and arming “gangs of killers”.
Hassan al-Suneid, a member of parliament, on Saturday also told The Associated Press that al-Maliki has problems with General David Petraeus, the chief US commander in Iraq.
He said US troops have embarrassed the Iraqi government and that General Petraeus was working along a “purely American vision”.
Al-Suneid said the US military strategy is to “arm whoever is against al-Qaeda at a time when there are gangs against al-Qaeda that kill. These are gangs of killers.”
He was referring to US overtures to groups in Anbar and Diyala, encouraging former anti-government fighters to join the fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Armed groups
The US military insists it is not arming groups to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq. Instead, officials say they are re-directing them away from attacks on US troops to confront al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Al-Suneid warned that these armed groups will retain their weapons in the future because of the US overtures.
He also said US authorities have embarrassed the al-Maliki government through acts such as constructing walls in Baghdad and repeated raids on Sadr City.
Al-Suneid said: “Al-Maliki finds difficulty in understanding [Petraeus] because he moves with a purely American vision, and reality needs a co-ordinated mutual vision.”
Al-Maliki’s adviser denounced the heavy use of arms by US troops against suspected fighters as human rights violations.
He said US forces use methods that produce results fast, including “building walls, random killings, detentions in ways that are far from human rights and this embarrasses the government in front of its people”.
“We cannot imagine that a neighbourhood is bombed with an excuse that ‘we are searching for a terrorist,”‘ he said.
Not one word from the Sunday political talk shows on Maliki’s comment just as there was no MSM coverage of BushCo’s US ally, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia when he told Arab leaders last March that the American occupation of Iraq was illegal.
I will one up the Iraq PM.
They didn’t need us at all in the first place. They had enough problems without us and had the absolute right to fix them on their own.
HEY FOLKS, THANKS FOR ALL THE HELPFULL TIPS, AS SOON AS THIS OLD CARPENTER REALLY LEARNS HOW TO USE ALL THESE NEW FANGLED CONTRAPTIONS, I JUST MIGHT CATCH UP TO ALL YOU HIGHFLYERS.
HAVE A GOOD ONE, AND WHAT IS A BLOG?..LMJ
HI OLD MAN, THIS HEAR COMMENT IS A BLOG. i DON’T UNDRSTAND THIS DANG COMPUTUR EITHER AND I TO AM LEGALLY BLIND.____ NITE, KEM
I’m a betting man… I’ll put my money on the table to see your cards. They better say we can get out NOW… or you ain’t even worth staying around to play with…! B.S. and Bluffing, both begin with B’s!
LMJ: A blog is short for ‘web log.’ Pretty much anything you write and share with the www is considered a blog, unless you are a professional writer, like a journalist who is paid for his work.
Now, to the article that was front page news in the Denver Post this morning. Busy day kept me from email until now, so maybe no one will read this anyway. Still, I think we all need to be reminded that the war was for oil (as many have stated above) and, until The W’s benchmark regarding the sharing of oil profits, so he can get something in there about selling all oil to the USA, there will be no troop pull out.
But, wait. Settle down. This may be the best news for the short while. After all, until The W and his cronies have more $$ in their pockets than they can spend in Paraguay, the USA will be somewhat safe from another fake al Quaeda attack on our soil.
The Iraqis are taking August off, so I’m guessing the next couple weeks will be just too busy for Bush & Company to address this new development. Maybe he’ll go south and find a grade school where he can spend some time reading books to the kids. He seems to enjoy that kind of thing. And he doesn’t have to worry about all those big words the 6th graders use.
Yawn, yawn.
What Bush is really saying: “We need to fight the truth over there, so the truth does not follow us over here!”
As we quietly continue building up our massive military bases so we can attack Iraq’s neighbors from their country!
The Iraqi government can do whatever it wants as long as we have established stronghold there. The can do their thing and we can do our thing. As long as their thing doesn’t conflict with our thing everything will be just peachy.
abbybwood,
With respect to my sentiment “I’m excited about the new US that is coming…”
I also have “wild dreams” about how it could be. Oh, it could be so much better…..I can sense it and it sounds like you can too….. This is why I enjoy participating here at Common Dreams - dreaming together is so much better than dreaming alone !!!!
But, from a strictly practical standpoint, it seems we are at the precipice in so many ways (ecologically, socially, spiritually, politically, etc.). As far as I’m concerned, big-time change is on the way. Thank goodness because I’m so tired of the status quo. None of us really knows how it will unfold, but I put forth that massive suffering of innocence is NOT an inevitability. If we work together, we can proactively find solutions.
However, there are “a few” out there in positions of influence with whom I’d like to share this: If you choose to perpetuate suffering of innocence by action or inaction, woe unto you because “Karma” will wrap around - tight, with might. The time for change is NOW.
Don’t you think?
Peace,
Ken Hausle
* I support HRes333 - Impeach the VP
** time is of the essence
P.S. Abby (I hope you don’t mind me calling you that), I also wanted to mention that I’ve enjoyed several of your posts on other threads. Peace.
he could the americans to FO, and they still won’t leave. they are there for the long haul.i.e. as long as any of us are alive. oil…oil…oil!
The Iraq government says it doesn’t need the U.S. Then there’s no reason for our fine young men and women to remain there another day…………………… Of course the real reason that we are still in Iraq is to build a base from which to attack Iran from.( oh yeah, and also to liberate Iraq’s oil) Once it was “discovered” that there were no W.M.D.s and Saddam was captured, What other reason could there be? To build a democracy? What a joke. The Bush administration has about as much interest in democracy as I have interest in playing pick up stix with my butt cheeks.