US Pact Elevates Al Maliki To Position Of Power Not Seen Since Saddam
Al Maliki risked his future first on his partnership with George Bush, and then on his country’s security agreement with him.
Baghdad: Parliament’s approval of a security pact with the US has propelled Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki into a position of strength unsurpassed among Iraqi political leaders since the fall of Saddam Hussain.
Furious dealmaking preceded the vote on Thursday, compelling Al Maliki to make a wide range of concessions to Sunni lawmakers in exchange for their support to Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa).
As a result, he emerged with his main goal intact: a historic agreement in which the last American soldier would leave Iraq by January 1, 2012, and restore the country’s full national sovereignty.
Coming on top of a string of military and political successes this year, the agreement has given Al Maliki the aura of a national hero who rises above Iraq’s chronic sectarian and ethnic divisions to pursue the greater interest.
 |
|
