Think about this dear red stater. “Mission Accomplished”, “surge”, “GWOT” all emanated from W! Items 1 and 3 have been discarded, in the former case, and renamed in the latter. Bureaucrats such as W only do that to protect the guilty!
The “surge” is being challenged by the purge. Petraeus said in his recent testimony about W’s man in Baghdad Maliki “The Baghdad clock, for all the reasons that I mentioned, is not moving as rapidly. It is not enough, for example, to go to Prime Minister Maliki, who I do believe, as I mentioned, is someone who wants to lead and serve all Iraqis, but it’s not enough to go to him.
He’s not the Prime Minister Tony Blair of Iraq. He does not have a parliamentary majority. He does not have his ministers in all of the different ministries. They are from all kinds of different parties. They sometimes sound a bit discordant in their statements to the press and their statements to other countries. It’s a very, very challenging situation in which to lead.”
The article “Maliki’s Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces” states “A department of the Iraqi prime minister’s office is playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and national police officers, some of whom had apparently worked too aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias, according to U.S. military officials in Baghdad….
Although some of the officers appear to have been fired for legitimate reasons, such as poor performance or corruption, several were considered to be among the better Iraqi officers in the field. The dismissals have angered U.S. and Iraqi leaders who say the Shiite-led government is sabotaging the military to achieve sectarian goals….
The issue strikes at a central question about the fledgling government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki: whether it can put sectarian differences aside to deliver justice fairly.”
The Iraqis have learned about delegation of authority from big bro 43 as they are trying to blame an underling for the problem not Maliki as “One adviser in the office, Bassima Luay Hasun al-Jaidri, has enough influence to remove and intimidate senior commanders, and her work has “stifled” many officers who are afraid of angering her, a senior U.S. military official said.
U.S. commanders are considering installing a U.S. liaison officer in the department to better understand its influence.
“Her office harasses [Iraqi commanders] if they are nationalistic and fair,” said the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity out of concern over publicly criticizing the Iraqi government. “They need to get rid of her and her little group.”
A senior Iraqi army official said he plans to seek assistance from Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, in limiting the office’s interference in the daily duties of the military. “We need his help to stop these noises,” the official said on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity.”
The Iraqis have also learned the trait that US officials have adopted of speaking anonymously. Maybe this Iraqi official will get his medals and after retiring write a tell all book as Tenet has recently done. The question is why didn’t they come forward in a timely fashion to influence current events?
This “purge” is the clearest indication that W’s “surge” won’t work as Maliki, who is in charge of Petraeus’ “Baghdad clock” isn’t going to make the steps to start “addressing controversial laws and reconciling politically to end escalating sectarian tensions.”
In addition to his own countrymen accusing Maliki of presiding over the genocide of the Sunnis, the Saudis also have made the same accusation.
“Saudi King Declines to Receive Iraqi Leader” states
“In a serious rebuff to U.S. diplomacy, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has refused to receive Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on the eve of a critical regional summit on the future of the war-ravaged country, Iraqi and other Arab officials said yesterday….. Since taking office a year ago, Maliki’s government has made repeated promises about reaching out to Iraq’ s Sunni minority, addressing controversial laws and reconciling politically to end escalating sectarian tensions. But Sunni governments charge that nothing has been done. Arab diplomats said on Saturday that they had hoped that Maliki would come to the conference with a list of steps already taken, but that instead he will offer only more promises.”
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