Heat Rises Between Iraq PM and Petraeus

[unhappycamper]

Heat Rises Between Iraq PM and Petraeus
STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA | July 28, 2007 02:05 PM EST


BAGHDAD — A key aide says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's relations with Gen. David Petraeus are so poor the Iraqi leader may ask Washington to withdraw the overall U.S. commander from his Baghdad post.

Iraq's foreign minister calls the relationship "difficult." Petraeus, who says their ties are "very good," acknowledges expressing his "full range of emotions" at times with al-Maliki. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who meets with both at least weekly, concedes "sometimes there are sporty exchanges."

It seems less a clash of personality than of policy. The Shiite Muslim prime minister has reacted most sharply to the American general's tactic of enlisting Sunni militants, presumably including past killers of Iraqi Shiites, as allies in the fight against al-Qaida here.

An associate said al-Maliki once, in discussion with President Bush, even threatened to counter this by arming Shiite militias.

History shows that the strain of war often turns allies into uneasy partners. The reality of how these allies get along may lie somewhere between the worst and best reports about the relationship, one central to the future of Iraq and perhaps to the larger Middle East.

A tangle of issues confronts them, none with easy solutions:


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uhc note: I posted this thread yesterday on the subject @ 7:43 AM EST:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1459253&mesg_id=1459253

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. After bailing his chestnuts out of the fire, al-Malaki is going to give orders?

Boy, is this ever a total mess.