Maliki Says His Forces Are Able to Secure Iraq

[SWJED]

30 April Washington Post - Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces by Joshua Partlow.

A department of the Iraqi prime minister's office is playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and national police officers, some of whom had apparently worked too aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias, according to U.S. military officials in Baghdad.

Since March 1, at least 16 army and national police commanders have been fired, detained or pressured to resign; at least nine of them are Sunnis, according to U.S. military documents shown to The Washington Post.

Although some of the officers appear to have been fired for legitimate reasons, such as poor performance or corruption, several were considered to be among the better Iraqi officers in the field. The dismissals have angered U.S. and Iraqi leaders who say the Shiite-led government is sabotaging the military to achieve sectarian goals...

[SWJED]

15 July NY Times - Maliki Says His Forces Are Able to Secure Iraq by Richard Oppel, Jr.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki declared Saturday that Iraqi forces could secure the country on their own “any time” American troops decided to withdraw, his first response to the White House report this week that found his government falling well short of many political reforms and military goals sought by Congress.

Mr. Maliki has been under attack by American officials and many Iraqi politicians for leading a government mired in disputes and unable to make progress on major legislation seen as crucial to stabilizing the country. Support is growing in Congress for an American troop pullout that would leave Iraqi forces that are already plagued with sectarianism, absenteeism and other problems to battle the Sunni Arab insurgents and Shiite militias that dominate parts of the country...

15 July Washington Post - Iraq Can Handle Security, Premier Says by Megan Greenwell.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi military and police are capable of maintaining security "any time" the Americans want to leave the country.

He acknowledged, however, that Iraqi forces need more training and weapons...

[Stu-6]

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi military and police are capable of maintaining security "any time" the Americans want to leave the country.

Outstanding, it is about time. I say lets take him up on the offer.

[Ken White]

Outstanding, it is about time. I say lets take him up on the offer.

160K to about 40K over the next year or so. That number will be there for a while...

[T. Jefferson]

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi military and police are capable of maintaining security "any time" the Americans want to leave the country.

I really wish I even halfway believed Prime Minister al-Maliki.

If his government is as dysfunctional as news reports seem to portray, why would anyone accept this as a realistic statement?

[RJO]

Aide: Iraqi PM's Comments Misconstrued:

BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister was misunderstood when he said the Americans could leave "any time they want" an aide said Sunday, as politicians moved to end a pair of boycotts that are holding up work on crucial political reforms sought by Washington....

On Sunday, al-Maliki's adviser Yassin Majid told The Associated Press that the prime minister meant that efforts to bolster Iraq's security forces would continue "side-by-side with the withdrawal."

Majid urged the United States to continue building up Iraqi forces so they would be ready whenever the White House orders a troop withdrawal.

[Ken White]

I really wish I even halfway believed Prime Minister al-Maliki.

If his government is as dysfunctional as news reports seem to portray, why would anyone accept this as a realistic statement?

Minister really meant was... "

Got to give the news media a break, they seldom get anything correct on the first few tries; takes a while to get it sorted out generally.

As for Politicians, worldwide, most tend to have foot in mouth syndrome...

[T. Jefferson]

As for Politicians, worldwide, most tend to have foot in mouth syndrome...

Very true.

[Jedburgh]

Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Focus, 16 Jul 07:

Maliki Government Faces a Governance Crisis

...The Nuri al-Maliki government, which was formed in May 2006 as the first "unity government" after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, is now facing a major breakdown in its multi-sectarian coalition. In late June, Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, a senior Shiite politician, resigned from his post. As a major figure in one of the most powerful Shiite parties, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), Abdul Mahdi made his resignation in response to the second bombing of the shrine of Samarra and what he called the government's inability to protect Iraqi citizens from insurgent attacks. The move by the former vice president followed another major drawback for the al-Maliki government: the withdrawal of the largest Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accord Front (IAF), from the unity government. These two major events appear in a period when accusations against the alleged centralization of control by al-Maliki and his Da'wa party are rapidly spreading in the country. Baghdad is unstable politically, and the outcome of this meltdown is bound to harm the future of democracy in Iraq....