Maliki accuses US politicians of meddling in Iraq

Maliki has come out fighting after a series of attacks on him from various US politicians and has stated that Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic contender for the US presidency, and the Democratic senator Carl Levin should "come to their senses".

The bald assertion by Mr Maliki that US politicians are behaving like colonial overlords is the latest in a series of bad-tempered exchanges between officials from both countries.

"There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin," Mr Maliki said. "They should come to their senses."

Maliki has been under increasing pressure, especially since Allawi employed one of the US's most powerful GOP lobbying firms to tout himself as the best man to lead Iraq. The lobbying firm has been using Philip Zelikow, former counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a series of interviews to undermine Maliki and insinuate that the Bush administration are considering replacing Maliki.

I can confidently guess that our government is quietly speculating about a lot of different options knowing how much concern Iraqis have about their leadership.

Of course, what Zelikow is not saying - whilst he claims to be talking about the concerns of the Iraqi people - is that he is being paid by a firm that represents Allawi and that it is in Allawi's best interests that Zelikow runs down the leadership of Maliki.

As Bush has also let it be known that he is disappointed in Maliki's leadership, notably because of his forging of a friendship with Iraq's neighbour, Iran, Maliki has struck out claiming that Iraq can find other friends apart from the US, an obvious reference to Iran.

So it's fair to say that relations between the US and the Iraqi regime are as frosty as they have ever been since the invasion.

The Republican Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, said the Baghdad regime was "still pretty much a disaster" but cautioned: "It's a democratically elected government and I don't think we can dictate to them." Meanwhile, senators from both parties, returning from a visit to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, concluded that the Shia prime minister had been "a huge disappointment".

Of course, what's interesting about all these politicians who took part in the horse and pony show of being dragged around Iraq by the US army, and being shown only what the army wanted them to see, is that they have all returned praising the "surge" and condemning Maliki.

And, since Allawi joined the US's most powerful lobbying firm, this cry has become almost universal.

Mr Maliki has been angered by a series of statements from across the US political spectrum which have queried his ability improve the situation. President Bush angered him by saying he was "frustrated" that political goals were not being met. Ambassador Crocker, speaking more like a pro-consul than a diplomat, said the lack of movement was "highly disappointing".

Allawi has recently resigned from the Iraqi government and is no doubt making his play for the role of Prime Minister ahead of the soon to be published report by General David Petraeus. Allawi hopes that Petraeus will portray the surge as working and the Iraqi government as failing. To this end Allawi has already publicly stated that the problems in Iraq are all the fault of Maliki and not the fault of the US government.

So, Maliki's possible replacement has payed the money and made all the right noises. The only problem is that Maliki is preparing for a fight.

The question now for Bush is: to coup or not to coup?

UPDATE:

It's really interesting to watch the access to the US media Allawi is getting since he hired a lobbying firm. He appeared with Wolf Blitzer last night and stated:

Ayad Allawi said Sunday he will soon return to Baghdad to "reverse the course in Iraq."

Speaking from Amman, Jordan, Allawi told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," that al-Maliki leads a government loyal to Iran and Shiite interests.

Allawi accused the prime minister of "supporting militias to take the rule of law in their hands."

At a time when the US is arming Sunni militias, Allawi clearly has no sense of irony.

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