Iraqi prime minister: ‘I’m not America’s man’
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Saturday referred to the boundary between himself and the United States, telling U.S. President Bush that he answers first to the Iraqi government and people, according to an Iraqi official. The clarification first came up Friday during a private meeting between al-Maliki and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, according to an Iraqi parliament member who is also al-Maliki’s senior aide….”I consider myself a friend of the U.S., but I’m not America’s man in Iraq,” al-Maliki told the U.S. ambassador, according to Hassan al-Seneid.
I understand that, for domestic political purposes, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has to appear to be his own man. To appear beholden to America would undoubtedly place his political role and future (not to mention his life) in some jeopardy. Nonetheless, the reality is that with the backing of the American government and American military, Nuri al-Maliki would be a household name only in his own household. For al-Maliki to claim otherwise is simply dishonest and disingenuous. Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader’s illegal and immoral war is the only reason al-Maliki even has a government to run.
It comes as no surprise that White House Press Secretary Tony Snow and other Administration apologists are working overtime to promote the fallacy that al-Maliki is a popularly-elected leadership with his own power base. They certainly aren’t about to admit that the support US government and military is the only reason the current Iraqi government is still in power. No one with even a barely-functional intellect will advocate the position that the Iraqi government could function on it’s own…though members of the Bush Administration will certainly do there best to intimate the assertion.
White House spokesman Tony Snow agreed with al-Maliki’s stance. “He’s not America’s man in Iraq,” The Associated Press quoted Snow as saying. “The United States is there in a role to assist him. He’s the prime minister — he’s the leader of the Iraqi people. He is, in fact, the sovereign leader of Iraq.”
“There are no strains in the relationship,” Snow added, according to AP.
Al-Maliki may well be the sovereign leader of Iraq, but it’s not as if his power comes from anything but the barrel of a gun. Take away the American presence in Iraq, and I’d wager that al-Maliki’s life expectancy would be about 20 minutes. So let’s stop pretending that al-Maliki’s political position and power is anything but the tenuous proposition it is, shall we?
