Iraqi leader lashes back at U.S. critics

[babsbunny]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070826/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer
7 minutes ago



BAGHDAD - Iraq's beleaguered prime minister on Sunday lashed out at American critics who have called for his ouster, saying Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Carl Levin need to "come to their senses."

Nouri al-Maliki, who is fighting to hold his government together, issued a series of stinging ripostes against a variety of foreign officials who recently have spoken negatively about his leadership. But those directed at Democrats Clinton, of New York, and Levin, of Michigan, were the most strident.

[saltpoint]

1. I don't know if al-Maliki's government ever had much of a chance.

Rumsfeld swore he could graft a democracy onto that culture -- oh, and sorry about the craven looting of the National Museum -- stuff happens -- and now we're some years into the project and it isn't going well and inspires no confidence anywhere.

I don't blame anyone for finding fault in what's in place now, although al-Maliki is not its sole proprietor, nor did he have that much to say in its shape and content and direction. Don't give someone a screwdriver and bottle opener and ask them to build a palace. More components are needed. If we don't supply our own troops with proper armor, then the components any Iraqi government needs to become self-sustaining are also not likely to materialize.

Bush's failure is not just about poor management of the occupation. It's far wider and deeper. Our next president, and it will certainly be a Democrat, is going to have a tough job ahead.