lily
09-03-2007, 12:05 AM
Ah Grasshopper you learn well. It's ahrd work, blame others and then say it is embolding the enemy. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20559075/)
Al-Maliki: U.S. fails to see Iraq's triumphs
Beleaguered prime minister accuses critics of sending 'signals to
terrorists'
Updated: 9:47 a.m. ET Sept 2, 2007
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s beleaguered prime minister accused his American critics on
Sunday of underestimating how hard it is to rebuild his country and failing
to appreciate his government’s achievements “such as stopping the civil and
sectarian war.”
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said told reporters that some of the
criticism from Washington sends “signals to terrorists luring them into
thinking that the security situation in the country is not good.” He offered
no specific examples.
He also said U.S. critics may not know “the size of the destruction that
Iraq passed through” and do not appreciate “the big role of the Iraqi
government and its achievements, such as stopping the civil and sectarian
war.”
The Democratic-controlled Congress is growing increasingly frustrated with
the slow pace of political reform in Iraq. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have
called for al-Maliki to be replaced.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and the top American military commander, Gen.
David Petraeus, are to report to Congress during the week of Sept. 10 on the
degree of progress achieved since President Bush ordered nearly 30,000 more
troops to Iraq.
A draft report by the Government Accountability Office concluded Iraq has
satisfied only three of 18 benchmarks set by Congress for measuring progress
and partially met two others.
None of those five benchmarks are the high-profile political issues such as
passage of a national oil revenue sharing law that the U.S. has said are
critical to Iraq’s future.
U.S. ambassador: 'There is progress'
During an interview broadcast Sunday by Iraqi state television, Crocker also
urged patience with the Iraqis as they try to reach power-sharing agreements
among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
“After 35 years of injustice under Saddam Hussein, there are some problems
since liberation and the problems of 40 years cannot be solved in a year or
two,” Crocker said, speaking in Arabic. “What is important is that there is
progress.”
Separately, al-Maliki ordered what he said would be an unbiased
investigation into last week’s deadly clashes surrounding a Shiite religious
celebration in Karbala, which many have blamed on the Mahdi Army militia of
anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr has himself demanded an investigation, while his followers have
condemned the arrests of more than 200 people in Karbala — many of them
supporters of the firebrand cleric. The bloodshed in Karbala saw more than
50 people killed and hundreds injured.
Al-Sadr, who has denied that the Mahdi Army provoked the confrontation,
announced a surprise six-month suspension of the militia’s activities last
Wednesday following the fighting in Karbala, in an apparent attempt to
deflect criticism.
“After the procrastination we had seen in the past two days, we warn the
Iraqi government and the executive authorities in Karbala if they don’t open
a fair, neutral and quick investigation, the Sadr office will be obliged to
take unspecified measures,” spokesman Sheik Salah al-Obeidi said in Najaf.
Though the Iraqi government and U.S. commanders have praised al-Sadr’s move
to stand down his militia, security forces have been keeping the Mahdi Army
under pressure, saying they are focusing on breakaway factions believed to
be receiving weapons, training and money from Iran — a charge that Iranians
deny.
Al-Maliki: U.S. fails to see Iraq's triumphs
Beleaguered prime minister accuses critics of sending 'signals to
terrorists'
Updated: 9:47 a.m. ET Sept 2, 2007
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s beleaguered prime minister accused his American critics on
Sunday of underestimating how hard it is to rebuild his country and failing
to appreciate his government’s achievements “such as stopping the civil and
sectarian war.”
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said told reporters that some of the
criticism from Washington sends “signals to terrorists luring them into
thinking that the security situation in the country is not good.” He offered
no specific examples.
He also said U.S. critics may not know “the size of the destruction that
Iraq passed through” and do not appreciate “the big role of the Iraqi
government and its achievements, such as stopping the civil and sectarian
war.”
The Democratic-controlled Congress is growing increasingly frustrated with
the slow pace of political reform in Iraq. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have
called for al-Maliki to be replaced.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and the top American military commander, Gen.
David Petraeus, are to report to Congress during the week of Sept. 10 on the
degree of progress achieved since President Bush ordered nearly 30,000 more
troops to Iraq.
A draft report by the Government Accountability Office concluded Iraq has
satisfied only three of 18 benchmarks set by Congress for measuring progress
and partially met two others.
None of those five benchmarks are the high-profile political issues such as
passage of a national oil revenue sharing law that the U.S. has said are
critical to Iraq’s future.
U.S. ambassador: 'There is progress'
During an interview broadcast Sunday by Iraqi state television, Crocker also
urged patience with the Iraqis as they try to reach power-sharing agreements
among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
“After 35 years of injustice under Saddam Hussein, there are some problems
since liberation and the problems of 40 years cannot be solved in a year or
two,” Crocker said, speaking in Arabic. “What is important is that there is
progress.”
Separately, al-Maliki ordered what he said would be an unbiased
investigation into last week’s deadly clashes surrounding a Shiite religious
celebration in Karbala, which many have blamed on the Mahdi Army militia of
anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr has himself demanded an investigation, while his followers have
condemned the arrests of more than 200 people in Karbala — many of them
supporters of the firebrand cleric. The bloodshed in Karbala saw more than
50 people killed and hundreds injured.
Al-Sadr, who has denied that the Mahdi Army provoked the confrontation,
announced a surprise six-month suspension of the militia’s activities last
Wednesday following the fighting in Karbala, in an apparent attempt to
deflect criticism.
“After the procrastination we had seen in the past two days, we warn the
Iraqi government and the executive authorities in Karbala if they don’t open
a fair, neutral and quick investigation, the Sadr office will be obliged to
take unspecified measures,” spokesman Sheik Salah al-Obeidi said in Najaf.
Though the Iraqi government and U.S. commanders have praised al-Sadr’s move
to stand down his militia, security forces have been keeping the Mahdi Army
under pressure, saying they are focusing on breakaway factions believed to
be receiving weapons, training and money from Iran — a charge that Iranians
deny.