Emperor Cheney will have to be scraped of the White House ceiling on hearing this. His three pets, Halliburton, KBR, and now Blackwater are all in shit with the Iraqi government.
Those rotten ingrates. After all Cheney paid to buy them off, they side (oh my Gawd) with the Shia Iranians! Yikes, who'd have thunk...
Posted by tempus at September 26, 2007 08:43 AMWe've seen pronouncements like this from Al Maliki before, several of them actually. They all end with a "clarification" by some Iraqi functionary a day or two later and are forgotten. Surely Maliki understands that he heads a puppet government and that Bush will decide when and if anything changes regarding Blackwater type goon squads and significant US pullout. He probably also understands that to keep his power (assuming Bush feels keeping Maliki in power is useful) he needs to give the impression of yanking the Occupier's chain from time to time. The United States runs Iraq, and that won't change under Bush. We'll see how many of the "viable" Dem candidates take Soto's advice and promise to leave if the Iraqis ask. Don't forget, Bush has made the same promise.....but he often lies.
Posted by T2 at September 26, 2007 08:44 AMBased on their performance on funding the Iraq occupation why would anyone believe the Dems.
Posted by JohnT at September 26, 2007 08:46 AMSince Bushco occupation propaganda has been based utterly in crap and hoopla about Iraqi "sovereignty" and "democracy", not resource access, this is its achilles heel. All the Iraqis have to do is start utilizing their parliament to make things rhetorically difficult for Bushco (in theory at least). The Iraq "government" hasn't attempted to gin up the Iraqis against our occupation; when that starts, things will get much more difficult for Our Heroes.
Supposedely, NO faction of Iraqis want Koraq. So the next troop extension "agreement" should be limited to a year or whatever. This comes up in December, according to a law the parliament did succeed in passing. Finally, a point of Iraqi consensus?
Of course Iraqis don't want Koraq, that was absurd on its face and one of Bush's supreme absurdities. But Dems need to start pointing out that Iraq is not going to be the 51st state and doesn't want to be. Duh. Yet do we hear anything like that? They don't even mock the silliness of it.
Maliki gives the Dems more ammo almost every single day, yet they NEVER use it (keepin' the powder dry, ha-ha). He must think they are supreme clowns, and he's the supposedly "incompetent" politician! He'd have a field day with Bushco if he were in Congress.
If the Blackwater Christianist mercenary circus becomes the straw that broke the Bushco back, nothing could be funnier or more appropriate. But a thousand times bitten, twice shy, so I'll believe that "consequences" are coming when I see them.
Posted by euzoius at September 26, 2007 08:48 AMThe no bid/pact with the Devil comes home to roost. Centcom can't operate without Blackwater, Maliki can't get rid of Blackwater unless he gets rid of the troops and thanks to Bremer Blackwater is free to dissolve any pretext of humanity as it stalks the streets unaccountable again, today. Is Blackwater a cog in Bush's works to keep the area so incensed that the cooler heads can never meet and Bush's war will continue...so we add to the column of energy dependence that helps finance the terrorists and now our tax $ go into the pocket of the guys keeping the pot stirred. Brilliant!
Posted by mainsailset at September 26, 2007 08:55 AMT2, my impression is that our occupation of Iraq is really very tenuous, since the troops are, quite simply, utterly inadequate to hold the place in the face of a general uprising. Does anyone think there are "enough" troops in Iraq to force a military solution?
We've got tons of firepower and command of the air. But I question if the generals think they can stay in an Iraq in complete rebellion.
Perhaps the sunnis will try to solicit our "help" in an upcoming "hotter" civil war. But if both sides want us out, I think that's it. Maliki may not be as weak and stupid as our propaganda presents him, although one can't quibble with your observations about his endless "clarifications"--which ultimately don't gain him any real points with the people.
Posted by euzoius at September 26, 2007 08:59 AM...Bush foreign policy...
An oxymoron if I've ever seen one.
This is going to be really interesting to watch play itself out. Security goofs like Blackwater (the environmental term for "shit" in the water) provide security for everything allowing troops to concentrate on the "War on Terra" in Iraq. There are about 130,000 private contractors providing everything from food to latrines. If they go, this Army can't fight.
It's the new American military -hamstrung. All of it brought to you by Buschco, republi-cons, and neo-cons. We have never been less able to deal with international situations than at any other time in our history.
Posted by phidipides at September 26, 2007 09:13 AMyes euzolus, at the end of the day the Iraqis can end this occupation whenever they wish. The problem is with the term "Iraqis", which I contend simply describes a group of people that exist in geographic proximity and not much else. IF for the greater good the Sunni and Shia leaders decided that they can reach a settlement of their issues on their own, and would really like the Occupiers to be gone...then we have nowhere near the force to stop them from isolating our troops and either killing or capturing them or letting them run for the borders. The supply lines and roads are probably already mined and waiting to be blown, as is Baghdad Intl and the Green Zone. Our only reaction would be Air power simply leveling the entire country. A united call from Shia and Sunni declaring that they are buddies and not fighting (as Maliki said this week) and would like the US to leave simply won't do it. So they are left either continuing the guerilla fight against the Occupiers indefinitely or rising up and ending it. Or wait on Hillary....and hope.
Posted by T2 at September 26, 2007 09:27 AMMore political theater. Maliki is to the people of Iraq what DEMs are to the people of the US. Both have to say things that sound as if they opposed the occupation, but neither will actually DO anything. Both know that the US occupation cannot be maintained/sustained without private contractors and mercenaries. Without the US occupation, Maliki falls. So, he gets tough on the Blackwater boys knowing full well that they can be reconstituted under another name or within the ranks of another one of the mercenary/security operations already in Iraq. However, for domestic consumption, he has to condemn Blackwater because this one has become the public face of the worst of the worst destroying Iraq.
Posted by Marie at September 26, 2007 09:29 AMBetter issue my own "clarification".
I think the Kurdish leaders may envision US troops in Kurdistan for 50 years. I don't know if that's the view/desire of most Kurds-in-the-street, however, and certainly some percent oppose Kurd-reastan.
Great comments by all above, excellent post. I do think Maliki is something of a mystery. Remember that, even though initially selected by us, he is not despised by "Iraqis" based on (perhaps outdated) opinion polls, and certainly not by shi'ites. Maybe there is new data out there I've missed.
Posted by euzoius at September 26, 2007 10:45 AMT2, great response. I totally agree. Al Maliki will be explaining what he really meant within 48 hours (if he wants to live).
Posted by Judith at September 26, 2007 11:25 AMBingo, Marie! You have summed it up perfectly. They may call themselves a security firm, but the Blackwater people are, in fact, mercenaries who kill people for money. They have been around for centuries, and if you get rid of this one, another one will take its place with the same personnel. Problem solved. And, the beat goes on. The answer to all this, of course, is to reinstate the draft, but it will never happen. Not now.
Posted by PretzelsOne at September 26, 2007 02:11 PM"More political theater. Maliki is to the people of Iraq what DEMs are to the people of the US."
Loved this one. Put a smile on my face.
A lot of wishful thinking...
Posted by peter at September 27, 2007 08:56 PM