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Analysis: Amid Bleak News, Iraqi Leader Lashes Out at U.S.

Council on Foreign Relations

June 7, 2006
Prepared by: Michael Moran

Having won office in no small part due to pressure from the United States, it might seem natural that Iraq's new prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, would make a show of being "his own man" early in his tenure. Yet, even as he struggles to fill the most vital jobs in his cabinet—those atop the ministries of defense and interior—Maliki has shown little reluctance to lay into Washington (CSMonitor) in his first week in power.

On Wednesday, he began releasing Iraqis jailed for their ties to Saddam Hussein's Baathist government in a bid for "national unity" (BBC). He also demanded Iraqi officials be allowed to investigate and prosecute U.S. Marines who allegedly massacred as many as twenty-four civilians in the town of Haditha last November, the facts of which are described in this Backgrounder. Maliki, who says abuse of civilians has become a "regular occurrence," also ordered creation of a commission to set ground rules for coalition troops' behavior (NPR).

The United States has not objected to Maliki's approach so far. While some administration officials have told reporters they are uncertain about his recent pledge (WashPost) to relieve American and coalition troops and take responsibility for the security of most of Iraq by the end of the year, the administration is aware of pressure building in Congress and among the public to plot an eventual way out for the American military. The Pentagon, however, in its latest quarterly report to Congress on progress in Iraq, says the mission is succeeding and setting a withdrawal timetable at this point would be counterproductive.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.