Iraqi P.M. Lifts 2 U.S. Military Blockades

Al-Maliki Flexes Political Muscle By Winning U.S. Agreement To End Checkpoints

(CBS/AP)  There were conflicting reports on whether al-Maliki ordered the blockades lifted with or without prior consultation with American military officials in Baghdad.

State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the decision was reached jointly at a meeting Tuesday among al-Maliki, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

They agreed to make adjustments in the checkpoints because of problems with traffic and pedestrian flows in the area, the spokesman said. He said Casey ordered the actions after the meeting.

A senior American diplomat said al-Maliki issued the order after the meeting "to address the problems that resulted with the flow of traffic and the disruption of essential daily activity for the average citizens of Baghdad. This was a joint decision." The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity.

Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Qassim al-Moussawi said the U.S. military was consulted, but only after al-Maliki made the decision at a meeting Tuesday with his ministers of defense and interior and the national security adviser.

Al-Suneid said the prime minister acted without checking first with the Americans because the blockades had "backfired and made the security situation in Baghdad worse. It is not important that such decisions always be made jointly."

U.S. troops have increased their presence on Baghdad streets as part of a 3-month-old security crackdown, but they had rarely set up checkpoints in the city until the U.S. soldier was abducted a week ago in the Karradah district in central Baghdad. American forces sealed the neighborhood Oct. 23 and closed Sadr City two days later, apparently believing the missing man was being held there. U.S. forces lifted the blockades in both areas Tuesday.

Al-Maliki's order came just hours after al-Sadr announced a campaign of civil disobedience in Sadr City, a district of 2.5 million people in the northeast corner of Baghdad. Armed men forced shops to close, hustled children out of schools and blocked residents from going to jobs in other parts of the capital.

As soon as news broke that the security cordon was lifted, al-Sadr supporters declared it a victory for their leader.

"If they had not lifted the siege, our strike would have spread to the rest of Baghdad tomorrow and the whole of Iraq the next day," said Jalil Nouri, a senior al-Sadr aide.

In issuing the order to lift the blockade, the prime minister said U.S.-manned checkpoints should not be established in Baghdad except during curfew hours from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. He also said U.S. and Iraq forces would not give up on trying to calm the capital.

"Joint efforts continue to pursue terrorists and outlaws who expose the lives of citizens to killings, abductions and explosions," said the statement, issued in al-Maliki's name in his capacity both as prime minister and commander of the Iraqi armed forces.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday he was inclined to approve proposals by Casey and the Iraqi government to increase the size of the Iraqi security forces.

"I'm very comfortable with the increases they've proposed and the accelerations in achievement of some of their targets," Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon.

But Rumsfeld would not say how big of an increase in Iraqi security forces has been proposed. Two other defense officials said it was far fewer than 100,000, and one official suggested it might be about 30,000. Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

U.S. government approval is required for any plan to expand the size of the Iraqi forces because it could not be accomplished without additional U.S. funds and the provision of U.S. trainers and U.S.-acquired equipment.

Asked whether such an increase would mean that U.S. troops would have to stay in Iraq longer to train the extra forces, Rumsfeld said he doubted it.

[patriotic9]

J-whitman
Thank you so much.I highly appreciate this important point you raised.Saudi Arabia is the country of which 15 out of 19 hijackers were from and is the country which has been benifited the most as a result of IRAQ WAR in the form of high OIL PRICES.We don't have to forget that BIN LADEN is also from SAUDI ARABIA.We don't know whether SAUDI govt which acts like it has no relation with BIN LADEN is trust worthy or not.
2days before the last PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION,Bin Laden had released a video tape in which he was talking against BUSH.It was obvoius,when the worst enemy of USA was talking against BUSH,people of USA were supposed to vote BUSH which BIN LADEN actually wanted.
I don't know if BIN-LADEN had wanted BUSH to win the election because he know how bad BUSH is for USA or they also have some business ties.

[j-whitman]

Patriotic,,,, Yes, & Bush has close personal contacts with Saudi Arabia & Communist China also.

[clestes-2009]

We MUST get our people out of Iraq, ASAP. They are being slaughtered. How could this have happened?

[patriotic9]

The only solution I see now(eventhough because of the worng policies of NON-SENSE CONSERVATIVES and memebers of 700 CLUB,it may not be perfect anymore)is to bring our troops from Iraq and deploy them to Iran.Iran is the main source of all the HATRED,TERRORISM and FINANICIAL CAPITAL FOR TERRORISTS against the west.If we control Iranian regime,Iraqi PM won't be able to do anything against our troops and our people.Iraqi PM is not only getting MORAL SUPPORT from the Iranian regime,but is taking our WEAPONS and MONEY on the name of REBUILDING IRAQ and SECURITY, and giving them to his RADICAL BROTHERS world wide.After the weapons were missing in Iraq,it's very clear how HIZBOLLAH was so well armed while fighting this year.

[patriotic9]

nikosk1
Iraqi PM is an EXTREMIST ISLAMIC RADICAL with close ties to ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN.What was the purpose of removing SECULAR SADDAM from power and to bring a RADICAL ISLAMIC EXTREMIST into power .If we leave his country on him,don't forget the geography of Iraq.On it's EASTERN BORDER is IRAN and it's WESTERN BORDER is SYRIA.From Iran on east to Lebanon on west,it will be like one big OIL RICH COUNTRY,ruled under those AYATOLLAHs who call us GREATEST SATAN.
The only sensible people I see in United States are some OPEN-MINDED,INTELLIGENT people in HOLLYWOOD like ROSIE O'DONNEL,MARTIN SHEEN,etc.If we would have listened to what JEANINE GORAFALLO had warned us in the begining,UNITED STATES would not have be on the track of getting DOOMED.

[exusmcsgt]

"Much of the discontent is fueled by soaring death tolls among U.S. troops and their inability to contain raging sectarian violence 3 = years after the ouster of Saddam Hussein."

And we never will......

[peterbaldwin-2009]

The VC and NVA also has diagrams of our firebases from mamasans let in to clean up the hooches.

[peterbaldwin-2009]

The turning point of the war was when Bush retreated during the first assault on Fallujah, handing the insurgency a spellbinding victory. Soon thereafter the insurgency's numbers swelled. They were rejoicing in the streets then, and they are rejoicing now. Bush has thrown in the towel. Al-Sadr played him like a violen, even extracting a billion dollars from Rumsfeld and a committment to allow Maliki to have full control of the Iraqi forces, who are walking around with AK-47s. The 101st caught them using US issued armaments against our soldiers (see Lara Logan video).

[bluestardad]

STAY THE COURSE?

[bluestardad]

Vietnam we had to clear Artillery firing data thru headquarters and the provincial leadership who told the VC. Does this sound anything like what we are doing now in Iraq?