Posted on 11/29/2006 10:36:19 AM PST by STARWISE
President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will be putting off their meeting by one day, the White House said Wednesday.
The delay comes after the high-stakes summit was marred by public disclosure of U.S. doubts about al-Maliki's capacity to control sectarian violence and a walkout of Iraq's coalition government by 30 parliamentarians loyal to radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Five Cabinet ministers and 30 lawmakers suspended their participation in Parliament saying their action was necessary because the meeting in Jordan constituted a "provocation to the feelings of the Iraqi people and a violation of their constitutional rights." Their statement did not explain that claim.
"The reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action," the Times quoted the memo as saying.
Al-Maliki and Bush are meeting in Amman, the Jordanian capital, Wednesday and Thursday in a summit aimed at halting Iraq's escalating sectarian violence and paving the way for a reduction of American troops.
"We are sticking to our position. ... The boycott is still valid," Falih Hassan, a Sadrist legislator, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Bush is a criminal who killed a lot of Iraqis and we do not want him to interfere in Iraq's affairs. The Iraqi government should negotiate with the U.N. Security Council, not with the leader of the country that is occupying Iraq."
(snip)
The Security Council responded to a request from al-Maliki, who said a top government priority is to assume full responsibility for security and stability throughout Iraq but that it needs more time.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
This is dangerous, who in gov is working with the enemy?
Rockefeller
Maliki is checking with Sadr regarding what issues to cover.
which "government" are you referring to? The US, or the "iraqi democracy"?
I hate to agree with that, but you're probably right.
These "leaks". Are they real documents? Or just reports by ne'er do wells?
I wonder how many double agents work for the NY Slimes?
Maliki just lost 5 of his cabinet. I think it is safe to say he is busy tonight keeping his government together.
to be sure, we have lots of those.
But I don't count Baker as one of them - mind you, alot of folks here are not going to like what Baker comes up with. But we have some stark realities to face in iraq, and what Baker is doing is one of the possible off ramps.
to be honest, if the iraqi government collapses, it won't mean much. Sadr's votes are holding Maliki up, Sadr's people are the ones infiltrating the government agencies. right now, you could make the case that the "iraqi democracy" - belongs to Sadr.
No anger here. Just acknowledging reality.
BTW, could you imagine these leaks coming out of the Clinton White House without consequences?
Wow the prophecies the realists warned about are coming to roost quite a bit sooner than even I would have imagined. We may have an Iraqi theocracy, or worse, by 2015 at this rate. But they'll have elected it with their purple fingers (well as far as a theocracy would allow the vote to continue) so that'll be just A-OK....
they were not ready for democracy, that's the sad conclusion. mind you, this doesn't mean they are not CAPABLE of democracy - they simply were not ready for it, were not ready to build the institutions required to sustain it. anyone can vote and dip their finger in an inkwell, that's not democracy.
That did not happen. State Department surrendered Iraq to Mookie two years ago. With the concurrence of the Bush Administration. You got Shiite Hezbullah elected by the Iraqi people. The American people had no choice in that.
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