Maliki's Mission Accomplished

I mentioned this yesterday, but Nouri al-Maliki's boast that he had "ended terrorism" in Iraq was stupid and will get many people killed.

A wave of attacks in Baghdad and areas north of the capital Sunday shattered a relative lull in violence, killing 16 people and injuring 15 a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared that Iraq's government had defeated terrorism.

His statement was an election-year boast. There are going to be provincial elections in the fall, and Maliki's public comments are designed to prove he's an effective leader. Also, because the vast majority of Iraqis doesn't want a long-term occupier in their country, he's calling for a timetable for withdrawal for US forces. These two comments are linked. Because terrorism has been defeated, there is no longer any need for the Americans.

Except Maliki's protectors in the US government won't allow Iraq to go it alone, no matter how much they say "if the Iraqis want us to leave, we'll leave." Maliki's in a horrible spot. The occupation is massively unpopular, but also the veneer keeping him in power; the "defeat" of terrorism has much more to do with massive US air power than an effective Iraqi security force. So he calls for a timetable as a sort of compromise measure, but it won't be enough for his enemies or his friends. The Bush/McCain axis managing US policy wants us there forever, and the growing populist movement in Iraq wants us out tomorrow.

These problems are intractable and Maliki can't snap his fingers and end them. He's apparently learned from his American counterpart to make foolish boasts that endanger his own citizens. In that sense he's learned at the foot of the master.