Monday, January 15, 2007

Maliki ... Don't Take My Word For It   [Andy McCarthy]

I've had plenty to say from our little peanut gallery (here and here, for instance) about our great friend, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the "moderate" leader gushingly praised by Secretary of State Rice and on whom the administration is betting the ranch in Iraq.

It's much more alarming, though, when American commanders on the scene in Iraq express their concerns.  This is from John Burns' report in this morning's New York Times (italics mine):

[T]he signs so far have unnerved some Americans working on [the Bush administration's new Iraq] plan, who have described a web of problems — ranging from a contested chain of command to how to protect American troops deployed in some of Baghdad’s most dangerous districts — that some fear could hobble the effort before it begins. First among the American concerns is a Shiite-led government that has been so dogmatic in its attitude that the Americans worry that they will be frustrated in their aim of cracking down equally on Shiite and Sunni extremists, a strategy President Bush has declared central to the plan. “We are implementing a strategy to embolden a government that is actually part of the problem,” said an American military official in Baghdad involved in talks over the plan. “We are being played like a pawn.”

01/15 09:08 AMShare