Mahdi Army "Not a Problem"
Published Thu, Nov 30 2006 9:40 AM
Technorati Tags: News and Politics
The Associated Press via the Tacoma News Tribune reports this morning on the talks between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki...
" I appreciate the courage you show during these difficult times as you lead your country," Bush told al-Maliki after nearly two and a half hours of talks. "He's the right guy for Iraq." It was their third face-to-face meeting since al-Maliki took power about six months ago.
"There is no problem," declared al-Maliki.
...
A senior al-Maliki aide who attended Thursday's talks said the Iraqi leader presented Bush a blueprint for the equipping and training of Iraqi security forces. The aide, who spoke anonymously because of the sensitive nature of the information, declined to give details.
...
Privately, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeatedly pressed the Iraqi prime minister to disband a heavily armed Shiite militia loyal to al-Sadr and blamed for much of the country's sectarian violence, according to the senior al-Maliki aide.
The official quoted al-Maliki as telling Bush that controlling the group "is not a big problem and we will find a solution for it." Al-Sadr is a key al-Maliki political backer and the prime minister has regularly sidestepped U.S. demands to deal with the Mahdi Army.
Before the cameras, Al-Maliki sent the protesting forces at home a message.
"Those who participate in this government need to bear responsibilities, and foremost upon those responsibilities is the protection of this government, the protection of the constitution, the protection of the law, not breaking the law," he said.
...
Bush, meanwhile, continued to reject drawing Shiite-led Iran into helping Iraq in its struggle for peace.
"I appreciate the prime minister's views that the Iraqis are plenty capable of running their own business and they don't need foreign interference from neighbors that will be destabilizing the country," he said.
...
The two agreed that Iraq should not be partitioned along sectarian lines into semi-regions for the Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites, Bush said.
"The prime minister made clear that splitting his country into parts, as some have suggested, is not what the Iraqi people want, and that any partition of Iraq would only lead to an increase in sectarian violence," the president said. "I agree."
I'm not sure that I agree with President Bush that al-Maliki is "the right guy for Iraq". He's clearly on the side of terrorists in Iraq. The Iraqi people seem to agree with the President.
Al-Maliki plainly wants to the United States to leave without finishing the work of preparing Iraq to deal with its security problems. He's eager to take full control of his country.
He also wants to negotiate with Iran and Syria to manage the sectarian violence. turning to Iran and Syria won't fix things there. The current sectarian violence is between Sunnis and Shiites. Many of the Sunni "insurgents" (terrorists) are believed to have infiltrated the country from Syria. Many of the Shiite "militia" (also terrorists) are believed to have come from Iran.
Neither of these nations is interested in a Democratic Iraq. They both have a lot to gain from a destabilized Iraq. Even so, President Bush's words may come to be a rallying cry for the left here at home...
"I appreciate the prime minister's views that the Iraqis are plenty capable of running their own business and they don't need foreign interference from neighbors that will be destabilizing the country," he said.
If the Iraqis are "plenty capable" and "don't need foreign interference", the left will pounce upon those words and accelerate their timetable for the Vietnamization of the exit strategy.
Ultimately the Iraqi people will have to decide their own fate. They've chosen their own government. If I recall correctly, some time ago President Bush said that it would be up to the Iraqi government when the United States left Iraq. Then he was arguing that a timetable would be a bad thing.
A timetable is still a bad Idea. A "speedy withdrawal" is still a bad idea. But, if the Iraqis are truly ready, then when they ask, through their government, we should leave. It won't be a defeat, but a victory, because when that happens, we will have achieved our original goal in Iraq. We will have toppled a thuggish dictator and given the Iraqis a democracy.
What they do with it is their business.
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Rightwing Guy trackbacked with "Why Have We Yet To Take Out al-Sadr?"
We have made mistakes in Iraq and I will be the first to admit that, but what I cannot understand is how we left the insane anti-American radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr alive to cause the types of troubles that have constantly bogged down our militar...
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