Iraq, Maliki, Talabani, and our missing soldier

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Thursday U.S. troops should remain in Iraq for up to three more years to help bring peace to the country and rejected suggestions Iraq had descended into civil war and accused the media of focusing exclusively on negative stories. Welcome to the world on the MSM, Mr. Talabani.

"We need time. Not 20 years, but time. I personally can say that two to three years will be enough to build up our forces and say to our American friends 'Bye bye with thanks'," Talabani told a conference organized by the IFRI think-tank.

That appeared to be at odds with the view of Gen. George Casey, who commands the 140,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq and who forecast last week that Iraqis would be able to handle most tasks within 12 to 18 months. source

The kidnapped American soldier has now been identified by Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell as Ahmed Qusay al-Taayie, a 41-year-old reserve soldier. He was kidnapped while visiting his Iraqi wife and her family, which raises questions in my mind.

The military spokesman said there was "an ongoing dialogue" in a bid to win the soldier's release, but he would not say with whom or at what level.

Caldwell, however, said that the soldier and his wife were married in February 2005 and he didn't arrive in Baghdad until November 2005.

"So he has every right, of course, as an American soldier to marry whomever he wants. ... At the time he was abducted, his wife was in country here, in Baghdad," he said. source

A car bomb killed seven people and wounded 45 when it ripped through a crowded market in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City district today. This comes after Irqi Prime Minister Houri al-Maliki ordered U.S. Troops to remove a blockade they had instigated while searching for the kidnapped soldier.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki obeyed Muqtada al-Sadr's command to withdraw U.S. troops from Baghdad's Sadr City. He halted a vital U.S. military operation. It was the third time in less than a month that al-Maliki had sided with the anti-American cleric against our forces. source

On the car bomb:

The car bomb, detonated by remote control, was aimed at shoppers in the Shi'ite slum's Mureydi market. Police said the casualty toll could rise.

The densely populated area is often targeted by Sunni militants. source

At first I thought Maliki would be good for Iraq, but lately ... not so much. His relationship with al-Sader (and thus with Iran) is not good. His defiance of American forces is winning him popularity with the locals:

Shiites from the crowded Baghdad district of Sadr City are reveling in what they deem their "victory" over American forces after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday ordered the dismantling of US and Iraqi checkpoints surrounding the area. source

The question is what can Americans do? We're stuck with Maliki.
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