In break with Bush, Iraqi leader assails Israel

[truthpusher]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/20/africa/web.0720shiites.php

In break with Bush, Iraqi leader assails Israel

By Edward Wong and Michael Slackman The New York Times

Published: July 19, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq on Wednesday forcefully denounced the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, marking a sharp break with President Bush's position and highlighting the growing power of a Shiite Muslim identity across the Middle East.

"The Israeli attacks and airstrikes are completely destroying Lebanon's infrastructure," Mr. Maliki said at an afternoon news conference inside the fortified Green Zone, which houses the American embassy and the seat of the Iraqi government. "I condemn these aggressions and call on the Arab League foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo to take quick action to stop these aggressions. We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."

The American Embassy did not answer a reporter's request for a response.

The comments by Mr. Maliki, a Shiite Arab whose party has close ties to Iran, were noticeably stronger than those made by Sunni Arab governments in recent days. Those governments have refused to take an unequivocal stand on Lebanon, reflecting their concern about the growing influence of Iran, which has a Shiite majority and has been accused by Israel of providing weapons to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group.

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link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/20/africa/web.0720shiites.php

[Anarcho-Socialist]

1. delete

[IndianaGreen]

2. And the Shias of Iraq ally themselves with the Shias of Lebanon

and why would this surprise any of us that warned of the consequences of invading Iraq?

The following is very telling of how much Israel has put US troops in Iraq in mortal danger:

The resentment of the Iraqi government toward Israel calls into question one of the rationales among some conservatives for the American invasion of Iraq - that an American-backed democratic state here would inevitably become an ally of Israel and, by doing so, catalyze a change of attitude across the rest of the Arab world.

A growing number of Iraqi officials have stepped forward in recent days to condemn Israel. On Sunday, in a rare show of unity, the 275-member Parliament issued a statement calling the Israeli strikes an act of "criminal aggression." The militant Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, whose followers play a crucial role in the government, said last Friday that Iraqis would not "sit by with folded hands" while the violence in Lebanon raged. Sadr commands a powerful militia, the Mahdi Army.

So far, the most prominent Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has remained silent. But another Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad al-Husseini al-Baghdadi, of Najaf, in an Internet posting on Wednesday accused the "international arrogant forces, especially America" of igniting conflict between Shiite and Sunni Arabs in Iraq and provoking Israel to attack the Palestinian territories and Lebanon. The ayatollah has relatives in Lebanon.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/20/africa/web.0720shiites.php

[ShockediSay]

3. See what this democracy thing can bring

Georgie boy??

Hamass and now this.

Time to starve them out like you did Hamaas.

[Crunchy Frog]

4. What a surprise.

How the fuck long would he last if he sided with Israel against Lebanese, Arab, Shias?

It would be rather ironic if the ultimate result of the Iraq war was to unify and empower the Shiites in the region, thereby greatly strengthening the power of groups like Hizbullah. I guess Israel must have left that out of its calculations when it was pushing so strongly for the invasion.

[rodeodance]

5. umm.. more trouble brewing with our ally