AL-MALIKI ON THE HOT SEAT

COMMENTARY

IMMEDIATE UNCONDITIONAL WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ (AND AFGHANISTAN TOO)

Recently I speculated on the fate of one al-Maliki (Whither the Maliki Government?, August 2007), head of the wholly American-owned subsidiary in Iraq. I mentioned in passing a reference to the fate of Nguyen Diem in Vietnam in 1963 when the Kennedy Administration got fed up with his act. Now it appears that events over the last several days seem be blowing the same kind of ill wind for brother al-Maliki. Not only have various bourgeois politicians in America been calling for his head, notably Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Carl Feingold, but President Bush has been rumbling about his pal’s shaky grip on the situation in Iraq. The tom toms are also being heard about a possible Iraqi military coup. Yes, that’s right, a military coup by the same guys who cannot go out in the streets of Baghdad without at least half of the American 82nd Airborne division by their sides. Apparently they have plenty of time and courage to plot against the hapless al-Maliki government. From his bunker in the Green Zone al-Maliki has been making noises about the negative effect that American politicians have had on the situation. In short, he is telling all and sundry to buzz off. Whether al-Maliki can control the situation in the face of all this adversity remains to be seen. I will take plenty of 2-1 bets that he is gone before the autumn leaves here in New England are all on the ground. Any takers?