Word: ite
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...Americans to ... either stay or leave." Looked at another way, that's pretty much what the Americans had asked for: a "conditions-based" withdrawal plan. But by demanding a firm deadline for withdrawal, al-Maliki has appropriated a key rallying point of one of his key opponents, radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr...
...Most recently, the wily Shi'ite politician has been pushing back against Washington on the terms of a security pact that will govern the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq after their current U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year. With the clock ticking on a Bush Administration that is keen to finalize a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) before the expiration of the U.N. mandate - and its own - al-Maliki is holding out for the U.S. to back down from its demands for legal immunity for U.S. troops in Iraq and for their right to arrest...
...help. Such successes as al-Maliki's forces have recorded against al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in Basra and Baghdad have been achieved with support from the U.S. military - and also through political agreements with al-Sadr. Still, the show of force helped extend the predominantly Shi'ite government's control into the south and burnished al-Maliki's image as a strongman and a nationalist, rather than a Shi'ite politician beholden to his sect...
...Peshmerga forces. The Sunni Awakening leaders who played a key role in tamping down al-Qaeda are also growing increasingly wary of what they fear are al-Maliki's plans to sideline them, raising the specter of renewed sectarian tension. And the Prime Minister remains at odds with Shi'ite opponents such as al-Sadr...
...last year - remains fragile. A lack of progress in resolving the country's political divisions could trigger more violence, especially if large U.S. units pull out, Pentagon officials say. When the British pulled out of the southern city of Basra in 2007, the resulting vacuum was filled by Shi'ite militia units until the Iraqi government sent in its improving army in March and brought the city under Baghdad's control. And Bush doesn't want to begin a major withdrawal that could jeopardize recent security gains as his successor takes office...