Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said on Wednesday, Iraq needed more weapons, not more advice, from the Bush administration. “I can strongly say that we could have been in a better situation right now regarding the equipment we have and the weapons we have,” Maliki said through a translator in an interview with reporters from Western media. “And if that would have happened, it would have greatly decreased the level of our losses and the losses of the Multi-National Forces as well.”
Maliki said those troops could soon leave if the U.S. provided the Iraqi security forces with more weapons and equipment. “If we succeed in implementing the agreement between us to speed up the equipping and providing weapons to our military forces,” he said, “I think that within three to six months our need for the American troops will dramatically go down.”
Somehow, to my jaded ear, this sounds like another way of saying, “Give us enough guns and room, and within 6 months, I guarantee you that there won’t be a single Sunni still breathing in our glorious country!”.
Sounding like Bush, (Whoda thunk others would emulate us to oour detriment?) Al-Maliki said that by wavering in its support for the Iraqi government, the Administration was emboldening terrorists, that insurgents might take such comments as a sign “that they have defeated the American Administration..”.
Responding to Bush’s comment that the Saddam execution showed that his government “has still got some maturation to do,” Maliki said “..It seems that the pressure has gotten to [such] a great extent that [it] led to the President giving this statement.” Translation: We do things OUR way here, the same way you do things YOUR way there.
It does look like we have accomplished our mission in Iraq finally, the new government appears hell-bent on shaping the country in a new form, albeit Sunni-free, and now only requires that we give them more shiny new toys to kill with and let them get down to the killing part. Possibly, they are dissatisfied with the pace the sectarian cleansing is taking at the hands of the Sadr army, seeing how the US Government keeps slowing them down and all…
Let’s keep in mind that the conflict between Shi’a and Sunni in Iraq predate Saddaam by a long ways, that was the way Great Britan structured it initially. The following excerpt is from the Wikipedia article on Saddam:
Saddam saw himself as a social revolutionary and a modernizer, following the Nasser model. To the consternation of Islamic conservatives, his government gave women added freedoms and offered them high-level government and industry jobs. Saddam also created a Western-style legal system, making Iraq the only country in the Persian Gulf region not ruled according to traditional Islamic law (Sharia). Saddam abolished the Sharia law courts, except for personal injury claims.
Domestic conflict impeded Saddam’s modernizing projects. Iraqi society is divided along lines of language, religion and ethnicity; Saddam’s government rested on the support of the 20% minority of largely working class, peasant, and lower middle class Sunnis, continuing a pattern that dates back at least to the British mandate authority’s reliance on them as administrators.
The Shi’a majority were long a source of opposition to the government’s secular policies, and the Ba’ath Party was increasingly concerned about potential Sh’ia Islamist influence following the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The Kurds of northern Iraq (who are Sunni Muslims but not Arabs) were also permanently hostile to the Ba’athist party’s pan-Arabism. To maintain his regime Saddam tended either to provide them with benefits so as to co-opt them into the regime, or to take repressive measures against them. The major instruments for accomplishing this control were the paramilitary and police organizations. Beginning in 1974, Taha Yassin Ramadan, a close associate of Saddam, commanded the People’s Army, which was responsible for internal security. As the Ba’ath Party’s paramilitary, the People’s Army acted as a counterweight against any coup attempts by the regular armed forces. In addition to the People’s Army, the Department of General Intelligence (Mukhabarat) was the most notorious arm of the state security system, feared for its use of torture and assassination. It was commanded by Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam’s younger half-brother. Since 1982, foreign observers believed that this department operated both at home and abroad in their mission to seek out and eliminate Saddam’s perceived opponents.[citation needed]
Saddam justified Iraqi nationalism by claiming a unique role of Iraq in the history of the Arab world. As president, Saddam made frequent references to the Abbasid period, when Baghdad was the political, cultural, and economic capital of the Arab world. He also promoted Iraq’s pre-Islamic role as Mesopotamia, the ancient cradle of civilization, alluding to such historical figures as Nebuchadrezzar II and Hammurabi. He devoted resources to archaeological explorations. In effect, Saddam sought to combine pan-Arabism and Iraqi nationalism, by promoting the vision of an Arab world united and led by Iraq.
As a sign of his consolidation of power, Saddam’s personality cult pervaded Iraqi society. Thousands of portraits, posters, statues and murals were erected in his honor all over Iraq. His face could be seen on the sides of office buildings, schools, airports, and shops, as well as on Iraqi currency. Saddam’s personality cult reflected his efforts to appeal to the various elements in Iraqi society. He appeared in the costumes of the Bedouin, the traditional clothes of the Iraqi peasant (which he wore during his childhood), and even Kurdish clothing, but also appeared in Western suits, projecting the image of an urbane and modern leader. Sometimes he would also be portrayed as a devout Muslim, wearing full headdress and robe, praying toward Mecca.
Secured by