President Bush made a surprise visit to Anbar on Monday and brought along his National Security Cabinet. What was interesting was that all of Iraq ’s leadership was flown out to meet him in Anbar. Note that Iraq’s PM has been saying that we are working with the recruits in Anbar to build a local security force (even though realistically he has put any and all obstacles to that process).
So the President along with the PM and other Iraqi leaders meet with the tribal leaders of Anbar and one of the first things they complain about is that the Police are not receiving salaries nor equipment as the PM had promised and stated that he had given. The PM stayed completely quiet and did not answer or object to any of the comments.
The symbolism in the Anbar trip was important…First of all the President of the United States visited a sovereign country yet did not go to its capital indicating that what is happening in Anbar right now is more important than what is happening in Baghdad. Secondly, the President got a reality check as to what the government was really doing to support people who have asked for help against extremism (almost nothing). More to follow…
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5 comments:
I think Bill Maher made an excellent point. The fact that Bush had to yet again sneak into Iraq with a surprise visit proves that we are not "kicking ass" (the presidents words) in Iraq. Fatima, I feel the leadership in our country has done a terrible thing to Iraq and its people. It is so frustrating and sad.
Sorry I have not read or commented on your blog for a long time. I have some catching up to do. I have been wasting to much time on my-space. Do you have a my-space page?
Take care,
Nick.
haha, i wrote a post a couple of weeks ago on why i've been absent so long from blogging, and one of the reasons is facebook. :) almost the same as myspace. but i definitely need to spend less time there and more time blogging.
Hello. I'm writing from the BBC World Service. I noticed your blog and am curious if you'd be interested in speaking about what's happening in Iraq, particularly in light of the Petraeus report. We're going on air with a three-hour special tonight from 7 to 10 p.m. (Iraq time) from our London studios. If you'd like to speak to the issues, please e-mail with your phone number and I can ring you from London. Speaking on the show is as simple as us calling you at a fixed time.
Cheers!
E-mail: lin.lui@bbc.co.uk
I'd just like to add that I'm glad lin can ask you for your opinion. I'm curious if you could have done that under Saddam's regime.
Anonymous,
Of course not! no question about that. but then again, to give lin my opinion on air, i would still remain semi-anonymous, for fear of reprisal! As I try to remain semi-anonymous on my blog.
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