Newsweek: Iraq PM Maliki's Master Plan

[understandinglife]

A national reconciliation plan for Iraq calls for a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops and, controversially, amnesty for insurgents who attacked American and Iraqi soldiers.

WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Rod Nordland
Newsweek

June 24, 2006 - A timetable for withdrawal of occupation troops from Iraq. Amnesty for all insurgents who attacked U.S. and Iraqi military targets. Release of all security detainees from U.S. and Iraqi prisons. Compensation for victims of coalition military operations.

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NEWSWEEK has obtained a draft copy of the national reconciliation plan, and verified its contents with two Iraqi officials involved in the reconciliation process who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the plan's contents. Prime Minister Maliki will present the document to the National Assembly when it convenes on Sunday, and it's expected to be debated over the coming week. Maliki has made reconciliation and control of party militias the main emphasis of his new government. This plan follows a series of secret negotiations over the past two months between seven insurgent groups, President Jalal Talabani and officials of the U.S. embassy. The insurgent groups involved are Sunnis but do not include foreign jihadis like al Qaeda and other terrorist factions who deliberately target civilians; those groups have always denounced any negotiations.

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Do you get the impression the ELECTED government of Iraq wants the US out and is going to make us pay as we exit (and more). I sorta do.


Peace.

[leftchick]

1. I smell collective shitting in pants

by the PNACers! Oh my this is getting interesting! I hope he is not assasinated by our black ops guys.

[Halliburton]

15. the assassination will be blamed on zarqawi's heir apparent

GEE, WHAT A COINCIDENCE!

[Saturday]

2. A timetable to get out of Iraq?

Hmmmmmm. Didn't the Republicans just vote that down in the Senate last week? Didn't our real President John Kerry suggest that?

Edited for spelling.

[understandinglife]

3. Kevin Drum essentially tells Bu$h to grab it and RUN ....

The "lie and die" Bu$h neoconster brigade and their many Republican minions are getting a break from Maliki as far as Kevin Drum is concerned:

to turn this opportunity down. It's precisely the kind of request he needs in order to declare victory, assure everyone that the job is close to done, and make it clear that he respects Iraqi sovereignty and doesn't plan to occupy their country forever. There would be no loss of face and no loss of national honor.

Conversely, if he resists it, it would be hard not to conclude that he was doing so solely because a "broad, conditions-based timetable" also happens to be exactly the position of the vast majority of the Democratic Party — and he would rather chew off his own big toe than do anything that might turn down the volume on the domestic partisan jihad that's been so politically successful for Republicans ever since 9/11. I guess we'll find out soon.

If Bu$h actually had the guts to do it, I'd be grateful, because it might actually mean a bunch more folk, Iraqi and American, aren't killed or maimed.


Peace.

[ProSense]

4. Challenging Bush to embrace peace!

I like it!

[understandinglife]

5. It does sorta rock, doesn't it ...

:hi:


Peace.

[eleny]

6. Iraqis planting window boxes of flowers is not in the cards

That means that Cheneyco has to give up control of the oil. I think Maliki is closer to being kidnapped by U.S. soldiers of fortune than we are to leaving.

[understandinglife]

7. I think Maliki's "master plan" is reflective of what Murtha has ...

.... been saying and reflective of just how extensive the American military command wants the US out of Iraq. I think PM Maliki has some very solid protection from those within our military who know we must get out of that country, fast.


Peace.

[eleny]

14. I think our mercenaries will do whatever Cheney wants them to do

We have enough of them to do the job. If we "go along" with Maliki it'll be a temporary smoke and mirrors show conducted by the man behind the curtain.

[Disturbed]

9. Perfect timing for Bush Regime.

The troops will drawdown a little bit before the '06 Election. After that an emergency will arise and the remaining troops will need to stay.

[understandinglife]

11. That could be the plan .... see comment # 10 ;)

Peace.

[eleny]

13. I agree and we're back to square 1

They'll use this to make it look good for the midterms and then it's back in. As soon as the election is over, they can send in more troops. Manufacture a reason and it's more death until '08.

[understandinglife]

8. Reuters: Iraqi PM expected to unveil peace plan

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was expected to present a national reconciliation plan on Sunday to curb Iraq's sectarian killing and the Sunni insurgency that has crippled the country's post-war reconstruction.

Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist, has vowed to crush the Sunni insurgency that has killed thousands of Iraqis and to reconcile Shi'ites with the once-dominant Sunni Muslim minority. Their mutual distrust has deepened amid sectarian bloodletting.

Since taking office on May 20 he has sought to arrest the political drift that developed while Shi'ite, Sunni and minority Kurdish parties wrangled for months over posts in the government and allowed a dangerous security vacuum to develop.

Political sources said Maliki would present his plan to parliament on Sunday in what could be his boldest move yet.

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Peace.

[understandinglife]

10. NYTimes: U.S. General in Iraq Outlines Troop Cuts

WASHINGTON — The top American commander in Iraq has drafted a plan that projects sharp reductions in the United States military presence there by the end of 2007, with the first cuts coming this September, American officials say.

According to a classified briefing at the Pentagon this week by the commander, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the number of American combat brigades in Iraq is projected to decrease to 5 or 6 from the current level of 14 by December 2007.

Under the plan, the first reductions would involve two combat brigades that would rotate out of Iraq in September without being replaced. Combat brigades, which generally have about 3,500 troops, do not make up the bulk of the 127,000-member American force in Iraq.

American officials emphasized that any withdrawals would depend on continued progress, including the development of competent Iraqi security forces, a reduction in Sunni Arab hostility toward the new Iraqi government and the assumption that the insurgency will not expand beyond Iraq's six central provinces. Even so, the projected troop withdrawals in 2007 are more significant than many experts had expected.

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Intriguing co-inky-dinky ....


Peace.

[understandinglife]

16. AP/NYT: A Deadly Week for U.S. Forces in Iraq

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 24, 2006
Filed at 7:02 p.m. ET

A look at 16 deaths of American troops reported by the U.S. military in the past week in Iraq:

....

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To quote Gov Howard Dean (from earlier today) --

Let us all do everything we can to prevent the number from growing ... let us all call upon Congress to support Murtha, Kerry, Feingold, .... and the ELECTED PM of Iraq, Mr Maliki!


Peace.

[understandinglife]

19. HuffPo headline: "After Criticism Of Dems For Pushing Timeline, Bush ...

...


Exactly.


Never Forget: George W. Bush willfully violated National Security to cover-up his willful launch of a war of aggression and illegal occupation of Iraq.


Peace.

[cushla_machree]

12. Man, democracy's a bitch.... n/t

[understandinglife]

17. Ah, yep!

pro-Bu$h = Anti-America + Anti-Humanity + Anti-Planet

[understandinglife]

18. And, anyone questioning how strategically savy Maliki is ....

... should note this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1501134&mesg_id=1501174

Hmmmm ... Bu$h and his neoconster gang of war criminals now find themselves being rope-a-doped by the Iraqis .... Had they read a bit of British history, they might have just stayed home and paid $ 55.00 a gallon for Iraqi crude ... and not killed a bunch of our fellow citizens and an even bigger bunch of innocent Iraqi citizens ... eventually, humankind may grow to realize the "imperialism gig" is just not all that kool.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

20. dKos: "Did the Iraqi government just punk Bush and the Rubber-stamp ...

...

Well, Yes and Yes ....


Peace.

[understandinglife]

21. Current headline LA Times online: Iraqi Death Toll Exceeds Estimates, ...

... ... and that headline is linked to an article entitled:

Al-Maliki to Introduce Amnesty Plan for Armed Dissidents

Kossack EZ writer posts the following and has details from the article that are not yet posted to the LA Times website.


Peace.