al-Maliki's op-ed

My Plan for America

[Written on behalf of Nouri Kamel Mohammed Hassan al-Maliki, this is a response by Mark Yannone to Barack Obama's outrageous op-ed "My Plan for Iraq" in The New York Times.]

My call for a timetable for the ejection of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity. We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of our snipers and bomb makers that I have long advocated and that is needed for reestablishing Iraq's sovereignty and security.

Like all Iraqis, I opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq before it began and vow to end it as Prime Minister. Clearly, it was a grave mistake to allow ourselves to be distracted from the fight against invaders by thinking that the United States and its allies posed no threat and would not try to associate us with their own self-inflicted wounds of 9/11. Since then, more than one million Iraqis have been killed, many more millions have been wounded and dislocated, and the economic cost is in the billions of euros. Our defense forces are gravely reduced, but our American enemy has also paid dearly for our resistance. Our allies have grown stronger, and their resolve to expel the Americans from the Middle East grows daily.

In the 18 months since Bush announced his "surge," our agents have performed heroically in escalating the level of violence. New tactics have protected the Iraqi population, and the Sunni tribes have rejected the CIA — greatly weakening its effectiveness.

But the same factors that forced us to oppose the surge still hold true. We have strained their military forces, and they have spent nearly $200 billion more in opposing us than they had budgeted. Fortunately, Iraq's leaders have wisely delayed spending our oil revenues on reconstruction while the Americans are still here to undo our efforts and waste our precious resources.

Iraq's leaders will take full responsibility for our country by negotiating a timetable for the ejection of American troops. Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, the American officer in charge of training Iraq's security forces, claims the Iraqi Army and police will be ready to assume responsibility for security in 2009. Of course, we will have to laugh quietly among ourselves about this outrageous statement.

Some American politicians who stand to gain from endless military expenditures in Iraq are labeling our reestablishment of national sovereignty a "surrender," and they oppose any effort to withdraw American troops. They leave us no choice but to continue the violence against them. Though the Americans have repeated many times that they will leave when asked, they have ignored our every request that they leave. Maybe I will have to appear on Dave Letterman's show before they take us seriously, I don't know. Until then, we will speak the only language they know: deadly force.

Remaining in Iraq will not be a strategy for their success. It is a strategy that runs contrary to the will of the Iraqi people, the American people, and the security interests of the United States. That is why, today, I give the military a new mission: end this American occupation by any means possible. Our most talented patriots have the resources they require. They already speak English better than most Americans, and they can find Washington, DC, on a map.

As I've said many times, we must be as relentless in getting the Americans out of Iraq as they were careless getting in. We can safely send our patriots abroad at a pace that would convince the Americans to recall their troops in six months, or by the next Day of Ashura. Six years of occupation is six years too many. After this ousting, the only Americans we should see on our sidewalks are those who are here by permission.

In carrying out this strategy, we would inevitably need to make tactical adjustments. Our patriots will be in communication with our commanders and others in the Iraqi government to ensure that our mission is successful. We would move them to secure areas first, then to more productive areas later. We would pursue an offensive with every nation allied with the United States on behalf of Iraq's sovereignty, so that we can once again assure Iraq's refugees that they can return home in peace.

Ending the occupation is essential to reestablishing Iraq's national sovereignty. Fortunately, some Americans know that Iraq has nothing to do with Bush's invented "war on terrorism." And Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently reminded the Americans that they don't have sufficient resources to continue their oil pipeline project in Afghanistan unless they stop wasting money in Iraq.

As Prime Minister, I shall pursue a strategy to convince the Americans that their resources are wasted here in Iraq. No matter how many troops and helicopters and extremely expensive support personnel they send to feed a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq, it will never be enough.

Though a few Americans like McCain would like to see permanent bases in Iraq like they have established in South Korea, the majority of Americans must be convinced that their best interests lie elsewhere. American history is littered with a long chain of strategic blunders in their foreign policy, but this time the silly opposition that uses false charges about "flip-flops" and "surrender" will not prevail.

It's not going to work this time. It's time to end this American occupation.
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Nouri Kamel Mohammed Hassan al-Maliki is the Prime Minister of Iraq. If al-Maliki were as outrageous as Obama, his op-ed would read like this. It's not easy to stand up to Bush when Bush's terrorist guns are pointed at every follicle on your head.

Update 07/19/08: Iraq PM: U.S. troops should leave as soon as possible

Update 07/18/08: U.S., Iraq to set "time horizon" on troop cuts