(Iraq PM) Maliki Blames Baathists for Baghdad Violence

[sabra]

Source: NY Times

BAGHDAD — Another car bomb blew up in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad Tuesday, and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Malikiissued a harshly worded statement blaming the outlawed Baath Party for a recent wave of violence.

Mr. Maliki called six car bombings on Monday, which killed a at least 33 people and targeted Shiite neighborhoods, “a gift of the disbanded Baath Party on the ill omen of its anniversary.” Tuesday was the anniversary of the founding of the Baath Party, which ruled Iraq from 1968 until Saddam Hussein was ousted by American-led forces in 2003.

Mr. Maliki’s criticism, which was unusually strong, called into question recent efforts his government has made to reach out to Baathists and bring them into the reconciliation process.

In recent statements, the prime minister has made a distinction between people with Baathist backgrounds, who may have been supporting the insurgency, and terrorists with groups like al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a largely Iraqi group with some foreign leadership. That was seen as a positive step in encouraging reconciliation, but it also drew strong criticism from Mr. Maliki’s own Shiite constituency.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/world/middleeast/08iraq.html?ref=world

[ixion]

1. Revisionist History: "Saddam Hussein was ousted by American-led forces in 2003"

That's not exactly the way it happened.

We ILLEGALLY INVADED a sovereign nation that posed no immediate threat to us whatsoever. The 'ousting' of Hussein was damn near an afterthought.