Prime Minister Howard has sent a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki a week or so ago, telling him to get his act together or public opinion could force Australian and other foreign troops to withdraw. Not surprisingly, he has yet to receive a response.
Last time I looked, the Iraqi government was requesting a troop withdrawal as the only way to begin bringing peace and reconciliation to Iraq. Although Howard’s letter is purely for playing to a domestic electorate, the arrogance of it is breathtaking. The Coalition of the Willing® almost bombed Iraq back to the Stone Age and created the conditions to allow an insurgent war to develop and now Howard wants to blame the Iraqis for not having their shit together.
Howard also advised Al-Maliki that there should be a more equitable distribution of the nation’s oil revenues. I presume that would only apply to what’s left after the foreign oil corporations have taken their ‘share’.
