The White House, not surprisingly, “knows nothing”…
The White House, not surprisingly, “knows nothing” about any effort to bounce Bush’s guy in Iraq.
The AP has a few more Iraqi pols talking about it, but apparently the palace coup is not exactly off the ground yet. Hopefully this is not a case of wishful thinking reported to soon. Al-Maliki, as several of the plotters note, has become worthless. Al-Sadr needs to be sidelined. Hopefully, it will provoke a crisis. In crisis, opportunity. An opportunity to destroy al-Sadr and his militia, and send a strong message to Iran.
A few key quotes:
Press Secretary Tony Snow tells reporters there’s no move afoot to “dump” Nouri al-Maliki.
Asked what’s wrong in the story, Snow said, “Basically, everything.”“The failure of the government has forced us into this in the hope that it can provide a solution,” said Omar Abdul-Sattar, a lawmaker from al-Hashemi’s Iraqi Islamic Party. “The new alliance will form the new government.”
“We know what’s going on and we will sabotage it,” said a close al-Maliki aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities involved. He did not elaborate.
Al-Maliki’s government, under the Iraqi constitution, could be ousted if a simple majority of parliament’s 275 members opposed it in a vote of confidence. Parties in the talks expressed confidence they had enough votes.
“The question of confidence in this government must be reconsidered,” Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab, told legislators Sunday. “Why should we continue to support it? For its failure?”
“Very soon, al-Maliki and al-Sadr will be engulfed in flames,” said Iraqi Police Capt. Jamil Hussein.
And here we are again. With doubt, something is afoot in Baghdad. Something is always afoot in Baghdad. Whether it succeeds or not is another matter. Meanwhile, the White House does not intend to “know” anything.
Topics: Uncategorized
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:25 am Comments (0) on Tuesday, December 12, 2006
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