(Iraq) PM says government has managed to save Iraq from civil strife

[sabra]

Source: Voice of Iraq

Baghdad, Sept 10, (VOI) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said his government has managed to save the country from "sliding into the pits of civil war," affirming that national reconciliation is "the only option before the government to rescue the political process."

"The Iraqi government's determined efforts to render successful the national reconciliation project have yielded fruit as far as stimulating national dialogue and spreading a culture of tolerance and fraternity are concerned," Maliki said in a speech before the Iraqi parliament, broadcast live by the official al-Iraqiya TV station on Monday.

Earlier on Monday informed sources said an Iraqi parliament's ordinary session would see Maliki speaking about the reasons for the cabinet reshuffle delay and the incidents in the cities of Mosul and Karbala, which occurred during the parliamentary recess.

...

"Despite the commotion caused by some local and foreign parties, significant success has been achieved on the ground," he said, noting important contacts and meetings between the government and political opponents.

Read more: http://66.111.34.180/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=54819&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1

[babylonsister]

1. Who's more out of touch, him or the dim one? I imagine many Iraqis

wouldn't agree with that assessment, but it's right on time.

[Teaser]

8. He's perfectly "in touch"

in that he is aware he's lying.

Civil and ethnoreligious strife isn't something his government is trying to avoid.

No, it is the POLICY of his government.

[Lobster Martini]

2. Yeah, I was watching the culture of tolerance and fraternity on the news last night

"If you're going to Anbar Province, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair..." Where's Scott McKenzie?

Maliki is certainly spreading something, and I'd prefer not to step in it while wearing nice shoes.

[Eugene]

3. Meanwhile: Truck bomb kills 10, wounds 60 in northern Iraq

Source: Reuters

Truck bomb kills 10, wounds 60 in northern Iraq
10 Sep 2007 13:11:31 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Updates casualties, adds details)

BAGHDAD, Sept 10 (Reuters) - A suicide truck
bomb killed 10 people and wounded 60 in northern
Iraq on Monday, police in Baghdad said.

They said the attack took place in the village of
Tal Marag, near the city of Mosul.

Local police said the toll would have been much
higher, but some villagers were suspicious when
they saw the truck and fled before it exploded.

The attack took place just hours before U.S.
President George W. Bush's top officials in Iraq
were due to give their assessment to the
Democrat-controlled Congress on the impact of
Bush's decision to send 30,000 extra troops to
Iraq.

Last month, multiple truck bombings in the Sinjar
district, west of Mosul, killed more than 400
people. That was the deadliest militant attack
in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L10761157.htm

---

Also: FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Sept 10 - Reuters

[xchrom]

4. he must be practicing his new career as a stand-up comedian.

[shraby]

5. Wonder how many American tax dollars bought

that statement.

[Roland99]

6. Doing his Baghdad Bob impersonation???

[Teaser]

7. Please, Mr Maliki...

Don't ever come and save my family.

[Dark]

9. Wow. I think we've found someone more delusional than Bush. nt

[antiimperialist]

10. Iraq official: August casualty numbers "heavily manipulated"

Read near the bottom, from the McClatchy newspapers.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/19566.html

[damntexdem]

11. Well, I'm glad to see that even amid a horrible civil war, ...

the Iraqi prime minister can still get some good shit to smoke. Man, he must be stoned completely out of whatever serves for his mind!