Bush reiterates support for Maliki AFP 17:02
KANSAS CITY, United Sates (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Wednesday reaffirmed his support for embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, calling him a “good man with a difficult job.”
“Prime Minister Maliki’s a good guy, good man, with a difficult job, and I support him,” said Bush, who was seeking to dispel any sense that Washington has been distancing itself from the beleaguered government in Baghdad.
Bush appeared to fuel that feeling on Tuesday when he noted “frustration” with Maliki’s administration and, without offering his usual words of support, said it was up to the Iraqis to decide whether to replace the prime minister.
On Wednesday, the US president moved to change that impression even as he pleaded for patience with his unpopular strategy and confronted worries about stalled efforts in Iraq to forge national reconciliation.
“Many are frustrated by the pace of progress in Baghdad, and I can understand this,” he said. “A free Iraq’s not going to be perfect. A free Iraq will not make decisions as quickly as the country did under the dictatorship.”
But “it’s not up to the politicians in Washington, DC, to say whether he will remain in his position, that is up to the Iraqi people who now live in a democracy and not a dictatorship,” he said.
Full:
http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/070822155516.y0vxft70.html
“it’s not up to the politicians in Washington, DC, to say whether he will remain in his position, that is up to the Iraqi people....”
once upon a time that was said about Ngo Din Diem.....