Here’s an interview with General David Petraeus worth reading, primarily because of the Maliki quote:
In an interview in this week’s Newsweek, Maliki avoided being drawn into the debate between the Bush administration and Congress. The U.S. “helped us by toppling the regime and accomplishing many steps of the political process but they still can leave,” Maliki said. “If the consequences of staying are bigger than the consequences of leaving, they will leave.”
Crocker said the Iraqis also are frustrated with their slow progress but are “very close” to agreement on a plan for managing the country’s oil production and share resources.
A key point is that both the Iraqi government and the U.S. government are saying the same thing about the U.S. presence in Iraq – if it SHOULD end, it WILL end.
What remains to be negotiated is when the U.S. presence should end. What should happen next? The Iraqi government needs to pass legislation related to two key issues – distribution of oil revenues and how the country will handle regional issues. The Iraqi government needs to show some sort of progress if it hopes to survive. Elections are coming up in the U.S., and everyone knows that they are going to change the political climate drastically – both inside the U.S. and in all the places where the U.S. has been manipulating governments, whether for good or bad.