Word: iraqi
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...another blow to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, Iraq's former interim leader, Ayad Allawi, has announced that he plans to return to Baghdad to do what the current Prime Minister has not: rid the government of sectarian bias and bring violence under control...
...Despite the recent focus on Maliki's shortcomings and failures, the job of Iraqi Prime Minister - at least as outlined by American officials - is probably impossible. There is probably no one who can reconcile with Sunni nationalists while simultaneously disarming militias tied to Shi'ite Iran. There is no one who can assert control over militia-dominated government ministries while simultaneously asserting control over Sunni communities that remain antagonistic towards the central government. As a senior Western diplomat observed earlier this month, there is no knight in shining armor waiting in the wings to solve the country's problems...
Petraeus is making clear that too much American blood has been spilled in Iraq for the U.S. to continue without wholesale progress being made by "the Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi people, the Iraqi political leaders." His comments, echoed by President Bush during the North American summit in Quebec, seem to be a predicate for declaring that if Iraq is lost, it will be the Iraqis' fault. Top U.S. generals are predicting that the 30,000-strong troop surge will begin receding in early 2008, bringing the total U.S. military presence down to 130,000 by next August. Military officials...
...many Democrats want deeper, quicker cuts. Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has just returned from Iraq. He was as impressed by the Iraqi military he saw as he was frustrated by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government. Citing improvements in the Iraqi forces, Levin says the U.S. can begin withdrawing troops in four months and cut the total number in half by mid-2008. And while Levin wants al-Maliki voted out of office, Bush has pointedly said the decision is "up to the Iraqis ... not American politicians...
...Whenever an Iraqi prime minister looks shaky, you can count on Ahmed Chalabi to put out the word that he is a candidate, and launch political maneuvers. Soundly defeated in the last general election - his group failed to win a single seat outright - Chalabi is one of Iraq's most despised political figures. Only in the surreal world of Iraqi politics would such a man even be considered a potential Prime Minister...