Leading Sunni Parliamentarian Blasts Maliki for U.S.-Iraq Security DealAli al-Dabbagh doesn’t foresee the Iraqi parliament rejecting the upcoming long-term security assurance President Bush intends to extend Iraq. He must not have talked to Saleh Mutlaq.
Mutlaq is the somewhat dyspeptic head of the smaller of two Sunni blocs in parliament. Both blocs exhibit profound distrust for Nouri al-Maliki. But Mutlaq is even less accommodating, and he’s closer to the “Sunni extremist” whom Dabbagh expects will object to the deal. Sure enough, Mutlaq objects to the deal.
Via IraqSlogger (sub. req.), Mutlaq told the newspaper Kul al- ‘Iraq that the Iraqi people — meaning his constituency — would see the deal as “a U.S. imposition.” The only way to avoid that perception would be… if the U.S. set a timetable to withdraw from Iraq. That’s clearly at cross-purposes with the point of the security deal.
So cross Mutlaq off from the list of the deal’s supporters. The question now becomes what kind of coalition Mutlaq can cobble together to stop the deal.