Doubts Increase About Strength of Iraq Premier (NYT)

By EDWARD WONG
Published: September 20, 2006

BAGHDAD, Sept. 19 — Senior Iraqi and American officials are beginning to question whether Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has the political muscle and decisiveness to hold Iraq together as it hovers on the edge of a full civil war.

Four months into his tenure, Mr. Maliki has failed to take aggressive steps to end the country’s sectarian strife because they would alienate fundamentalist Shiite leaders inside his fractious government who have large followings and private armies, senior Iraqi politicians and Western officials say. He is also constrained by the need to woo militant Sunni Arabs connected to the insurgency.

Patience among Iraqis is wearing thin. Many complain that they have seen no improvement in security, the economy or basic services like electricity. Some Sunni Arab neighborhoods seem particularly deprived, fueling distrust of the Shiite-led government.

Concerns about the toughness of the new government seemed reflected in President Bush’s comments when he met Tuesday with Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani. Mr. Bush said he wanted Iraqis to know “that the United States of America stands with them, so long as the government continues to make the tough choices necessary for peace to prevail.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/world/middleeast/20maliki.html?hp&ex=1158724800&en=67703253d067036c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

instill lots of confidence. So what's the blivet's next move? His m.o. seems to be let's get 'em all, and let God sort it out (after he (dimson) dies, in the future, so he doesn't have a thing to worry about).

relies on the Iraqis to do it for him. If he does nothing and they founder more, the question may be who will speak up and tell us to get out of their country, particularly if the next step is a partition following civil war.

he met with the Iranians?

:shrug:

but that won't work either, no one can has enough force to control Iraq now. It would take hundreds of thousands of troops.

and let those who can pretend like this never happened

Allawi is a secular thug who, unlike Saddam, takes orders from the US to heart.

what, like he's gonna put pressure on Iraqis to get their government to make "the tough choices"?

who wrote that flippin' speech? bush, off the cuff? man, that's a doozy of a claim. we'll stand with them unless they fall, in which case what? we kill them all and steal their oil?

do Neocons ever do anything themselves?

Al-Maliki is a puppet, despite his attempts to show some autonomy. His government is utterly dependent upon U.S. occupation.

What, this is Vietnam, lose confidence in one leader, there's a coup and another takes his place, over and over again?

in the new fiasco.

nevermind.

What happened to the "democratic elections" that Iraq held? How can we be replacing their elected leader every 3 months? So much for democracy.

From within the safety of the Green Zone far away from the people he's supposed to be leading.