Hmmmm...
Iraqi PM al-Maliki is in Tehran today,pressing the flesh with Iranian president Ahmadinejad.
President Bush went public today,characterizing Iran as a threat to the stability of the region, saying he's expecting that Maliki shared his view that Iran was not playing a constructive role in Iraq, and that al-Maliki would ask Ahmedinejad to end Iran's activities that interfere with Iraq's security.
(For you quick on the uptake Joshua's Army members, there a clue as to how well the `diplomatic encounter' between Iran and the US went.)
But, meanwhile, back in Tehran, al-Maliki and Ahmadinejad had themselves a regular lovefest with Iran saying it backs the Iraqi PM and that US troops must withdraw from Iraq immediately.
Maliki was also quoted by Iranian state media as praising Iran's 'constructive' role in 'fighting terrorism' in Iraq. And he visited with the families of the Qods Force commandos captured by the US in Iraq, was quoted as condemned their `arrest' and saying `the Iraqi government will do all it can to release these people.'
What we have here is definitely a failure to communicate. At least when it comes to President Bush and Iraqi PM al-Maliki.
For my part, I think I understand Nouri al-Maliki just fine.
Here's another key to what is going on...yesterday, al-Maliki announced that Iran and Iraq are going to negotiate a deal to build a new pipeline as a joint venture to carry 200,000 barrels a day of southern Iraqi crude to Iran’s refineries..which should coincide nicely with the British retreat from Basra, Iraq's chief oil outlet.
It sounds like all that is left is for the Iraqi government to deliver a formal request to the US to withdraw its troops from Iraq then we withdraw to defensible positions along the US border.
ReplyDeleteIf the Iranian puppet government that leads Iraq, were to deliver a formal request to the US government for the US to withdraw from Iraq, the US would begin to do so post haste then Iran would immediately gain control over southern Iraq. Without US troops in the way Iran would very quickly gain control over all of Iraq.
As it stands right now, Iran has defeated the US. All they have to do to finalize that victory is have their Iraqi puppet deliver a formal message to the US that their presence is no longer needed or desired. This would need to be done formally through official channels and not through the media. Iran want do this. This is likely becuase they wish to humiliate the US further. In other words, the Iranians are sore winners. There are very few things that I hate worse than sore winners.
As things stand now, the US will be forced to withdraw from Iraq soon because its army is being worn down. It sure would be helpful to have some type of border security in place once this happens. Also, a moratorium on immigration from Muslim lands would be helpful.
The US could alter the situation on the ground in Iraq if it would commit enough troops to do the following: 1.)secure the country's infrastructure, every time we build something the terrorists destroy it, 2.)secure the borders between Iraq and its neighbors of Iran and Syria, 3.)destroy al qaeda in Iraq, and 4.)destroy all Iranian backed militias operating in Iraq, this includes the Al Sadr militia and 5.)make it plain to the Iraqi government that public and private displays of affection for the Iranian government will have very bad consequences for them.
To do this would require significantly more troops than we have currently in Iraq and, since we are not going to get more troops, withdrawl seems to be our only option. It would be better to do this now before the Army is completely broken.