Iraq premier Maliki says wants no second term

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02334558.htm

Iraq premier Maliki says wants no second term

WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said he has no interest in a second term and wished he could be done before the end of his current term, in which rampant sectarian violence has defied hopes for unity.

Asked whether he would accept a second term, Maliki said in an interview published on Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal: "Impossible."

"I wish it could be done with even before the end of this term. I would like to serve my people from outside the circle of senior officials, maybe through the parliament, or through working directly with the people," Maliki said.

"I didn't want to take this position. I only agreed because I thought it would serve the national interest, and I will not accept it again," he said. His term is intended to be four years, but it could be cut short by a power shift in parliament.

Maliki also criticized U.S.-led multinational forces and the Iraqi army as being too slow to react to insurgents.

[mike_c]

1. Maliki will be fortunate if he survives his present term....

eom

[bdamomma]

5. I have that same feeling.

[saigon68]

12. A "New" Puppet will soon be selected by the Chimp Administration

[radfringe]

24. wasn't there some mention

of Maliki being pressured by the bushies to resign? Just a few weeks ago?

around the time Maliki blew off the "tea party" with bush and Jordan's King Abdullah II

[displacedtexan]

2. Having a Claude Rains Moment here...

I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

[Webster Green]

3. He's fucking toast since the lynching of Saddam for the chimp..

He'll be lucky to make it through the week.

Help is on the way though. The Decider is gonna surge....or boost.....or something.

[High Plains]

4. Maliki is a dead man walking.

[curiousdemo]

7. Boy... You took the words...

right out of my mouth. The Grim Reaper is following him around.

:hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi:

[PsN2Wind]

6. Wants to get out of there

and spend his share of the missing billions.

[Tempest]

9. And like another corrupt Iraqi, he'll be tried and convicted

Chalabi, that is.

Maliki will be tried and convicted in Iraq while living the high life in London or Miami.

[Barrett808]

8. Funny. I wonder how the WSJ editorial page will spin that. n/t

[Nihil]

10. "Cut & run"?

> "I didn't want to take this position. I only agreed because I thought
> it would serve the national interest, ..."

"... all I really wanted to be was ... a lumberjack!" :-)

> His term is intended to be four years, but it could be cut short by
> a power shift in parliament.

Or a bullet ...

[Bonescrat]

11. Irrelevant whether he wants it or not...

he ain't gettin' it.

[april]

13. Iraqi prime minister says he wants to quit office

Iraqi prime minister says he wants to quit office

The embattled leader, Nouri al-Maliki, has said he no longer
wants to be prime minister of Iraq, underlining the US's loss
of control over events just as President George Bush is poised
to announce his new strategy on the war.
Mr Bush is expected to announce early next week that he
intends to increase the number of US forces in Iraq to try to
contain the sectarian bloodshed that is now acknowledged to be
the biggest barrier to a stable Iraq and that has worsened
under Mr Maliki's watch.

But in a measure of the Bush administration's waning influence
over events on the ground, Mr Maliki now says he would like to
stand down as prime minister of the US-backed government.

"I wish it could be done with even before the end of this
term. I would like to serve my people from outside the circle
of senior officials, maybe through the parliament or through
working directly with the people," Mr Maliki told the
Wall Street Journal in an interview conducted on December 24
but published only this week.

"I didn't want to take this position. I only agreed
because I thought it would serve the national interest, and I
will not accept it again," he said.

Mr Maliki's latest demonstration of his independence from
Washington comes amid increasing frustration within the US
administration at his inability - or unwillingness - to rein
in the Shia militia leading Iraq's disintegration.


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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1982472,00.html

[hippiechick]

14. Sounds just like George!

"Prezidentin's hard work! I wanna go home and take a nap! I want my blankie! Waaaah, Uncle Dick, fix it for me!!!"


:rofl: <--- if it wasn't so damn pitiful.

[psychopomp]

16. I think he sees the writing on the wall

The current government will not last much longer, perhaps?

[knight_of_the_star]

22. He's jumping off the sinking ship

He knows that if he doesn't get off then his new badge of office will be a very constricting necktie.

[seemslikeadream]

15. april

you should uncheck this box, it's at the top where you post messages. That way your link will work. :hi:

Message format Check here if you want to format your message in plain text. Use for posting code snippets.

[april]

17. thanks

[brokensymmetry]

18. Or, in other words - Feet, don't fail me now!

What a mess.

[lapfog_1]

19. he better have a villa somewhere in the middle of Iran

waiting for him... a very anonymous villa in a very nondescript town, one large enough to disappear into.

[Xipe Totec]

20. Maliki does NOT want to spend more time with his family

does not want to move in next to his grandfather, his great grandfather, great great grandfather...

[fujiyama]

21. Maliki knows the risk

of Sunnis extremists possibly assassinating him, especially now after Saddam's execution.

Plus, this almost makes me think, he wanted to be PM simply to make sure Saddam was killed. I think their ill will was personal to some extent. Now his job is done and he wants to go.

[Imagevision]

23. With Iraq's flawed government being ineffective, Bush see's the writing on the wall and sends

40,000 more US. targets to Iraq.