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I thought he had died of skin cancer over a year ago.

I thought he was dead, too.

"A Nov. 11, 2005 statement attributed to Iraq's ousted Baath Party reported that Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri had died that day, possibly from Leukemia from which he had been known to suffer from since the late 1990s.

Izzat [Ezzet] Ibrahim al-Douri, former vice president of Saddam's revolutionary council, was believed to be behind some attacks against coalition forces and Iraqis. He is the "King of Clubs" No. 6 on the coalition's most-wanted list. Following the capture of Saddam Hussein he became the most wanted man in Iraq."

http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/
A Lack of Precision on Hillary and Levin’s Words About Maliki

I’m not really a fan of Nouri al-Maliki. I don’t think anybody’s impressed with his performance as Iraqi prime minster.

So when Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., says, “I hope the parliament will vote the Maliki government out of office and will have the wisdom to replace it with a less sectarian and more unifying prime minister and government,” it is, in and of itself, not that objectionable. We can hope for leadership changes in a lot of countries — Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and Syria come to mind...

But that’s getting reported as Levin calling for Maliki’s ouster.

It’s a rare day that I find myself in agreement with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, but he said to the Post that, “if it appeared that Maliki had been ousted at Washington’s behest, his replacement would be seen as a U.S. puppet — a kiss of death in the region.”

So as Hillary says:

“The Iraqi government’s failures have reinforced the widely held view that the Maliki government is nonfunctional and cannot produce a political settlement, because it is too beholden to religious and sectarian leaders,” the New York senator said in a statement given exclusively to CNN’s Jessica Yellin.

Clinton went on to say she “hope[s] that the Iraqi parliament will replace Prime Minister Maliki with a less divisive and more unifying figure when it returns in a few weeks.”

She may be precise with her words, but it’s not getting reported that way. CNN’s headline is, Clinton: It’s time for Maliki to go. The Levin comments were reported as, “Senator Calls for Maliki’s Ouster.” It sounds like they’re calling on the insurgents or some faction to overthrow him, and that’s “off message” to put it mildly.

Secondly, our friends on the left side of the aisle loudly lament that America is seen as arrogant, a bully, an imperialist power meddling in the affairs of other countries... and then they turn around and tell the Iraqis who their leader ought to be. Uh, guys, ya ever think comments like this might be part of the problem?

08/22 05:27 PM