Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and President Bush met today to discuss the ongoing sectarian violence in Iraq. They had to acknowledge that current efforts to bring Baghdad under control are not working, and Bush now says he’ll send in more US troops.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush and Iraq’s prime minister said on Tuesday more U.S. and Iraqi troops will go to Baghdad to try to slow sectarian violence in talks that exposed gaps between them on the Middle East.
“God willing, there will be no civil war in Iraq,” Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said. [Well, maybe not in the future, but it sure looks like there's one going on now.]
Bush, at a joint news conference with Maliki that lacked a great deal of warmth, said those going to Baghdad would be pulled from areas in Iraq that are deemed relatively free of violence.
…A U.S. defense official said 400 soldiers, from an Army brigade held in reserve in Kuwait, will be sent into Iraq in the coming days to help free up other troops to go to Baghdad.
Maliki is supposed to address a joint session of Congress tomorrow, but he has angered Congressional Democrats because he criticized Israel’s bombing of Lebanon but didn’t mention Hezbollah. The war in Iraq was supposed to bring about a democracy friendly to the west (read: in complete agreement with US policy) and, by extension, at least not hostile to Israel.
The two leaders had what Bush called a “frank exchange” — diplomatic parlance for a sharp disagreement — over the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah in southern Lebanon.
Maliki told the news conference he emphasized the importance of an immediate ceasefire, a position Bush refused to embrace.
…Bush has resisted multiple calls from Arab leaders for him to urge an immediate ceasefire, saying Hizbollah attacks on Israelis must be addressed.
That position has basically bought time for Israel to carry out its campaign against Hizbollah.
Maliki came to Washington having denounced Israel for the attacks while refusing to condemn Hizbollah, points that drew the ire of Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Democrats sent a letter to Denny Hastert asking him to demand an apology before he allowed Maliki to speak to Congress, but he refused. That may not go over too well with the religious right.
Ron Bonjean, Hastert’s spokesman, said there was no intention to cancel Maliki’s speech, and accused Democrats of “political gamesmanship during an election year.” [Hmmm. Pot, kettle?]
So now we have an Iraqi government that can’t begin to keep the peace. An Iraqi government that supports Hezbollah. An Iraqi government that wants closer ties with Iran. Mission accomplished. Or not.