"Maliki has warned Bush"

Lang at SicSemperTyrannis, here

1-Maliki wants a short term "memorandum of understanding" between the US and Iraq concerning the presence of US troops in the country.

Translation: contrary to the pseudo Wilsonian fantasies of Bush/Cheney/the Jacobins and McCain, the Iraqis are still Iraqis and their government does not want foreign troops in their country... Period! Such a memorandum would not amount to a treaty of alliance or even a permanent relationship. All the spurious talk about American troops in Germany and Korea for fifty years founders here on the rock of Islamic and Arab difference. Yes. It's the culture thing again. Political science dogma about the sameness of peoples is still crap. Neither the idiot savants of the Jacobin group nor the ignorant buffoons who vote them into office ever comprehended any of this and they still do not.

No predominately Muslim country is going to enter into a treaty of alliance with a non-Muslim state. That was true before 2003 and it remains true. The Muslims who read here will explain that to you all.

2- Maliki has now specifically warned Bush that Iraqi territory is not to be used for an attack against Iran by US forces.

Translation: He made sure that it was understood that this prohibition includes facilities and air space. He did not mention Israeli forces or US assistance to Israeli forces, but it was hardly necessary to do so.

The Dick McBush crowd could go ahead and do it anyway, but that would make it painfully clear that our prattling of Iraqi sovereignty was just a "blind" for neo-colonial adventure. There are a lot of good hearted and ignorant people in America who think that Iraq now belongs to the US in some way. Those folk may think that we ought to just "bull" our way through to final victory over the forces of darkness, fighting on to the "End of Evil" as Frum and Perle entitled their book. AIPAC may like that idea. WINEP certainly likes that idea in its secret heart of hearts, but the people who would pay the price for such a decision would be men and women in the field whose fortunes would be endangered by such foolishness. "