al-Maliki Moves Closer to Kerry Summit Plan
Today, President Nouri al-Maliki called for a regional conference to discuss Iraq’s future and quell the sectarian violence that has torn the country apart. The current Department of Defense Authorization bill passed by Congress includes a Kerry amendment which calls on the President to work with Iraqi leaders to convene this type of summit. Kerry applauds this development in Iraq’s escalating civil war.
Kerry first suggested a regional conference two-and-a-half years ago, and formally proposed a Dayton-like summit in the Senate several times this year. The Senate passed Kerry’s amendment to the DoD Authorization bill calling for this summit on June 22, 2006, and the full Congress approved the measure on September 30, 2006.
As Kerry said on CNN last Sunday, “It will take a lot of groundwork. You’ll have to lay the groundwork. You can’t just suddenly call a summit. You have to put the pieces together. But the bottom line is, the surrounding countries, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Gulf states, Egypt, et cetera, are Sunni. They have an interest in not having an Iraq that comes apart. They have an interest in not having a regional civil war. They have an interest in not having Sunnis brothers and sisters murdered, killed in a genocide. So, those stakeholders have to be brought to the table.”
Here’s what Kerry had to say about today’s al-Maliki’s announcement:
“Prime Minister al-Maliki’s decision to call for a regional conference for Iraq is an extremely important development. It comes at a critical moment, as Robert Gates has just testified that we are not winning in Iraq. This long overdue diplomatic initiative can be an important first step in a change of course. It is essential to bring Iraq’s neighbors together with the international community to forge the sustainable political solution that we all agree is the only hope for ending the violence in Iraq. There’s no military solution in Iraq. The only answer is a diplomatic and political solution. We must now work with the Iraqi Prime Minister to make sure that this conference is as successful as possible, which will require a long overdue commitment to a sustained diplomacy from the highest levels of the Administration.”
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Okay, let me see if I’ve got this straight here…
Al-Maliki is now calling for progress and actions in Iraq that sound very much like what Senator Kerry proposed back in 2003.
Check.
The Iraq Study Group is now calling for progress and actions in Iraq that sound very much like what Senator Kerry proposed back in 2003.
Check.
Senator Russell Feingold is now calling for progress and actions in Iraq that sound very much like what Senator Kerry proposed back in 2003.
Check.
Senator Carl Levin is now calling for progress and actions in Iraq that sound very much like what Senator Kerry proposed back in 2003.
Check.
Karl Rove is now calling for progress and actions in Iraq that sound very much like what Senator Kerry proposed back in 2003.
Okay, well, four out of five ain’t bad.
So, well now, lessee here…
Gee whillikers, what a surprise!
Now that he’s gone all over the hinterlands busting his hump and raising the bucks to make sure that more Democrats rather than less Democrats got elected last month, in the post-election safety zone Senator Kerry’s years-old good ideas are suddenly being touted as the latest greatest thing by everybody and his brother Baghdad Bob!
Sheesh. Givest thou unto us a break, oh ye-the-sheeple.
That pesky Kerry fella has been right out there in front leading you along for years and years now, and you know it. So get with the program already.
Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.
an’ don’t be afraid ta take th’ high road while yer doin’ it too,
Otter
Posted by Otter | December 5, 2006 5:43 PM
Spot on. A high five flapper to yeah.
Posted by Otter | December 5, 2006 5:43 PM
Perfect!
“Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.”
Nothing more to add!
Videos of Sen. Kerry’s Hardball interview tonight, with Mike Barnicle, on Iraq:See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/
Two parts:
1. “John Kerry plays Hardball” (around 7 + minutes)
2. “Kerry: Iraq ‘greatest disaster’ of our time (around 5+ minutes)
I just watched John Kerry’s Hardball interview on the MSNBC site. These interviews are getting better and better! Thanks God that after all these years of propaganda wars and talking points by the Bush administration and the media, real substantial discussions are now possible on US TV. And what we see there on TV is John Kerry, the senator and citizen, who is deeply concerned about what’s happening with this unholy war and with his country, not John Kerry, the candidate running for president. Don’t take me wrong. I think John Kerry could - and should! - be a great president, but I’m so tired of these talks about which candidate is the best, who is electable and likable, who said this or that first etc. etc. Maybe I’m just too European for this part of American politics, I don’t know. Anyway, thank you very much, Senator Kerry, for your serious and bipartisan approach to the Iraq situation and for working hard to find a solution. I’m grateful because American politics concerns us all, not only US citizens.
Posted by mbk | December 5, 2006 7:19 PM
MBK, I can’t decide which was better, Kerry Part I or Kerry: the Sequel.
What an excellent interview. And I understand he’ll be on American Morning and Anderson Cooper tomorrow, as well as Ed Schultz.
Keep sayin’ it, Senator. America needs to hear you. Resolving Iraq is, as you say, a moral issue, and you’re the best person to reenforce to the country what you’ve been telling us for years.
What I don’t understand is why so many of our elected officials are so focused on their exploratory committees and running for ‘08 now, when there’s work to do. The media needs to keep the attention on Iraq and not on all the speculation about an election that’s two years off.
Props to Barnicle, BTW. Excellent questions and way to keep on point.
JK will also be on Miles O’ Brien tomorrow as well at 7:15am
Does MSNBC repeat?
Barnicle is an old Boston connection. One of the few who would work on propagandist media in 2004, and never let them bury Kerry.
Look closely at The Candidate, and see a young Barnicle at the table.
I really like the way John Kerry has taken a cue from the rest of the country (or maybe it is the other way around?). John Kerry could try the same type of political one upsmanship that Bushco has used for the last six years (it feels like sixty), but he doesn’t, he uses our country’s problems as a way to try to get all of us to stand as one, to work as one, and to forget about the us vs. them “framing”. John Kerry’s “frame” is we are one America that needs to work together to solve the Iraq war disaster. Hopefully this will be only one of many issues where Senator Kerry can lead the country as one great nation working to solve its problems.
I said several years ago that Senator Kerry would have a “shadow Presidency” from within the Capitol. Well, it has taken about two years, but now it is happening. He is the leader that this country needed then and is listenting to now. I am so happy to see him getting the attention and respect he deserves from some of those in the national media.
At this point, the country is starting to wake up from a delusional stupor. People of good will were - and remain - frustrated with policies that reveal how we have forgotten what made this country a beacon of hope for others around the world. After the election, this country sighed a massive sigh of relief. We have taken our government back and will demand that it reflects the will of the people. Senator Kerry has also stepped forward, and it is obvious that his leadership during the last two years would have saved this country from hardships we did not have to endure.
This is a significant step forward and hopefully this is a positive sign that Al Maliki is willing to do the hard work required and that he sees merit in solving the issues politically and diplomatically. Perhaps he also now sees that the US can no longer help him militarily which is something Sen. Kerry has stated for a long time.
It still remains to be seen what part if any this administration who seem so hesitant when it comes to real and consistent diplomacy will play in this regional conference. It also remains to be seen who will be part of this regional conference and who will be kept out. Particularly Iran and Syria.
If the Saudis and other Sunni nations wish to dominate the talks with the blessings of the administration will they keep Iran and Syria out? If they do how much credibility will the regional conference have? Will the Sunni nations dominate the talks? How much confidence will the Shiites of Iraq have in the talks if Iran and Syria are kept out?
I was a good interview on Hardball, but I think I liked Blitzer’s interview more so. Blitzer seems to me to be a more nature interviewer - the flow of the conversation was more smooth.
Barnicle’s conversation was not quit as smooth - I think he’s more of a writer. JK does come across as knowledgeable and comprehensive in his thought process. Good to see him out and about.
I think Blue Washington’s right about Mike Barnicle—he’s more of a writer than a teevee interviewer per se. But I like that about him. He thinks first and plays to the camera second. And that’s a nice change of pace from the yammering-heads school of broadcasting (especially as it’s often practiced on a certain cable news network that we don’t mention in polite company, ahem).
“At this point, the country is starting to wake up from a delusional stupor. People of good will were - and remain - frustrated with policies that reveal how we have forgotten what made this country a beacon of hope for others around the world. . . “
Posted by oncall | December 5, 2006 11:32 PM
Oncall,
Your phrase, “delusional stupor”, is right on the money!
Thanks for your post.