We'll be in control by end of 2007 says Maliki

[cal04]

We'll be in control by end of 2007 says Maliki. In Baghdad, carnage continues

· At least 140 dead in market blast
· 41 killed by checkpoint bomb
· Three further attacks claim 17 lives
US efforts to subdue the insurgency in Baghdad suffered a setback yesterday when the Iraqi capital endured one of its most wretched days in four years of slaughter, with nearly 200 people killed and more than 200 injured in a volley of afternoon bomb attacks.

Some of the capital's poorest and most densely populated areas once again confronted scenes of carnage and devastation as at least five large explosions detonated within a terrifying few hours. In the worst attack, a car bomb at a market in a Shia district killed at least 140 people, some of them labourers rebuilding the marketplace from a previous attack in February

The apparently coordinated onslaught, the deadliest in Baghdad since George Bush implemented his security surge two months ago, provided sobering punctuation to a declaration by Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, who announced that Iraqi forces would assume control of security in every Iraqi province by the end of the year. Yesterday, British forces transferred control of Maysan province, making it the fourth of 18 to be handed to Iraqi control.

But Baghdad is a different matter. Mr Maliki has been under huge pressure from the anti-American Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a political ally, to commit to a timetable for US-led foreign troops to leave Iraq. But Mr Maliki insists that a withdrawal must be linked to conditions on the ground. And yesterday's mayhem served to underline the scale of the task facing Iraq's fledgling army and police force.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2060588,00.html

[Ilsa]

1. Wait a minute. Didn't the new Admiral in charge say we are losing

ground in Iraq? My husband found this news somewhere. I've gotten nothing but VT news today, so I've kept the tv off cnn msnbc today.The Admiral was reporting to a congressional commitee or something.

[cliss]

2. Memo to Al Maliki:

I'm sorry to say, you and your cabinet are finished.

The Al-Sadr group just walked out two days ago, in disgust.
In case you didn't know, the entire country pays attention to 2 men: Muqtada Al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani. THEY are the ones calling the shots.
And they have given you a thumbs down.

[marmar]

3. Baghdad Bob Maliki?

:crazy: