Iraqi Sunni Cleric Urges U.S. To Abandon Maliki
Bush will probably handel this request by ignoring it and continuing down his failed path.
- AMMAN, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Iraq’s top Sunni cleric called on the United States on Monday to cut ties with Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, saying his “puppet” government had failed and a U.S. backed political process was at a dead end.
- “If the Americans remain with this policy and rely on the same men who proved their failure again and again then they will leave Iraq in failure,” Sheikh Harith al-Dari told Reuters.
- “The U.S. administration should rectify its position in Iraq and stop depending on puppets… who have proven their failure,” the leader of Iraq’s Muslim Clerics Association said in an interview in Amman.
- Maliki’s unity government, set up to try to ease sectarian tensions and quell violence, has been in crisis since the main Sunni Arab bloc quit early this month and he wants political leaders to meet in coming days to resolve the deadlock.
- Dari, whose association groups Iraq’s Sunni religious leaders, said Washington had brought untold suffering on Iraq’s people during its four-year-old occupation and it should now try to foster a non-partisan government.
- The cleric, who has praised Sunni insurgent groups but denies direct links, said Washington also needed to rebuild the army on non-sectarian grounds.
- Soon after the 2003 overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, the U.S.administration dissolved the army and security forces, sacking hundreds of thousands of soldiers and further embittering Sunnis.
- “If the Americans think of a new type of rule that relies on wisdom and firmness alongside power to impose security ..they can pull out of Iraq with a face saver,” he said.
- “This is better for America than dealing with a weak government… It would guarantee them a future government that respects them as friends…rather than one that is a burden and survives on American taxpayers’ money,” Dari said.
- He said the U.S. Congress should apply more pressure for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq after the United States increased troop numbers earlier this year to try to stem sectarian violence.
- “They are fighting a losing, futile war that has taken a lot of lives,” Dari said. “The American public should know the losers from this war are both the American and Iraqi people.”
- Dari said he could envisage future reconciliation with America if Washington sought to learn from post-invasion blunders.
- “It’s possible,” he said. “As they say, in politics there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies.”
August 13th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Bush will probably handel this request by ignoring it and continuing down his failed path.
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NYTexan:
Yes, Bush is a failure at everything and why would this be any different? Failure is his legacy.
August 13th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
How true.
August 13th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
SuzieQ, Bush has been a hard lesson to this country. Bush is the consequence of disinterested voters. Politics is the plaything of the privileged who will determine what happens to those otherwise occupied by struggling to survive. Whole sections of this country are isolated from national and world affairs by their circumstances.
Voters are directed what to think and how to vote by 30 second sound bytes and the most recent sermon. They don’t take time from everyday living to compare words with actions of the media selected candidates. It is so easy to blame the ignorant and lazy. What is the solution to this? Education.
August 14th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Americans do not have a democracy, sorry to say it but, it’s true! We are a representative republic which is the definition of what americans call democracy. In a representative republic, We only have the power to vote for the politicians that we want to govern over us. After that, We continue to live our lives and they do want they want to do as long as they have the consensus of the majority. If the people won’t use the power the we have in the constitution to make change even over our elected representatives or just to abolish our current government and set one up to how the PEOPLE see fit then our only way is to hope that our representatives come to their senses. Another way to change things is if we give power to the majority by making a majority! Congress will never get things done because Congress can never be fully controlled. Members of one party has to submit to the other to get things done in the name of our country. When congress is deadlocked change does not happen. The democrats control congress but, by how many people, One maybe two or three. Being united doesn’t mean that when towers fall both parties decide to pull up their pants, sing a song, give money to a madman only to regret the decisions he makes. Our name should be, “America of the States”. As long as one votes Republican and the other Democrat, America will never be United! Jesus Christ says: A house divided against itself can not stand. We’re united in starting war and bi-partisan in everything else. Including peace. That is clearly backwards. God will not bless America! We refuse to heed his instruction!