# Is Obama following the Bush Doctrine with Iraq withdrawl timeline?



## PLYMCO_PILGRIM (Oct 24, 2011)

Chris Weigant: Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Timeline

So, from the huffington post article, it appears Obama is just going along with Bush's plans with Iraq, for iraq.



			
				huffington post said:
			
		

> So, the bargaining began with Obama suggesting 16-month timeline for withdrawal of all American troops (later hedged with unspecified residual force staying after this time). This would have meant all troops would have left around the end of May, 2010. Bush offered Maliki the date of December 31, 2011 for all combat forces to withdraw from Iraq. Maliki countered that the end of 2011 sounded just fine, but that all American forces would be gone by then. Bush reluctantly agreed to this, and to the June, 2009 deadline for American troops to be out of Iraqi cities.



Its interesting.


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## waltky (Dec 23, 2011)

Maliki Is A New Saddam...

*Exclusive: Iraqi Vice President: Maliki Is Becoming a New Saddam*
_DECEMBER 22, 2011 - An arrest warrant for Iraq's Sunni vice president just days after the U.S. troop withdrawal has sparked fears that the country may once again plunge into sectarian violence._


> Shortly before a wave of 15 bombings ripped through Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing more than 60 people, Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi warned that a simultaneous political crisis in the country could spiral "beyond control." In an interview with Foreign Policy on Wednesday from Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region where the vice president has fled to evade an arrest warrant, Hashemi declared that the Iraqi political system is "drifting from building democracy to building an autocratic regime" -- and implied that Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, was becoming a new Saddam Hussein.
> 
> Earlier this week, Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, accused Hashemi, a Sunni, of running a hit squad targeting government officials during the height of sectarian strife in the country. In a press conference on Wednesday, Maliki went further, casting doubt on the sustainability of power-sharing in Iraq by threatening to replace the current unity government with a majority government if Hashemi's largely Sunni Iraqiya bloc doesn't end a boycott of parliament and the cabinet. The political crisis has sparked concern about sectarian violence returning to Iraq just days after the last U.S. troops withdrew from the country.
> 
> ...



See also:

*Iraq Vice President says PM al-Maliki behaving like Saddam Hussein*
_ Friday 23rd December, 2011 : Iraq Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who is facing an arrest warrant on terror charges, has accused Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of behaving like former leader Saddam Hussein._


> Hashemi, a member of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority, said al- Maliki is controlling key institutions of the country with the help of Iran and the US, The Telegraph reports.  "Many of Saddam's behaviours are now being exercised by Maliki unfortunately. The judicial system is really in his pocket," he said.
> 
> "Maliki is very much adamant about running this country in a very bad and tough way, and there's no way that we will reach any sort of solution in the foreseeable future," he added.  Hashemi's statement came in the wake of bombings over the sectarian strife that has killed 72 people across the country.
> 
> ...


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## waltky (May 11, 2012)

Maliki eliminatin' the competition...

*Iraq could slide back into civil war*
_May 11, 2012 - Al Maliki's actions seem to align with Iran's strategic interest in consolidating Shiite control in the country_


> The arrest warrant, issued by the Interpol at the request of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, against Iraqi vice-president and prominent Sunni leader Tareq Al Hashemi is seen by many in the region as a recipe for a another bloody civil war in Iraq. It is also interpreted as a further demonstration of how influential Iran has become in Iraqi politics.
> 
> On the eve of the US withdrawal from Iraq at the end of last year, Iran and its local allies, rushed to exploit the vacuum Washington left behind and consolidate their influence in Iraq. Iran seems determined not to miss a historic opportunity to turn Iraq from a long-time regional foe into a junior ally. Should this happen, and it is in fact happening, Iran would then be able both to secure its western flank and use Iraq as a base from which to project influence in the wider Arab world. This would come only if Iran's foes in Iraq are purged and its friends are made powerful enough to rule Iraq unchallenged.
> 
> ...


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## edthecynic (May 11, 2012)

PLYMCO_PILGRIM said:


> Chris Weigant: Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Timeline
> 
> So, from the huffington post article, it appears *Obama is just going along with Bush's plans with Iraq, for iraq.*
> 
> ...


Just as long as you also blame Bush if anything goes wrong after the withdrawal according to the Bush timeline.

Of course, we know the CON$ will give Bush the credit if the Bush withdrawal timetable goes well but they will blame Obama if it fails.


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## RoccoR (May 11, 2012)

edthecynic, PLYMCO_PILGRIM, et al,



edthecynic said:


> PLYMCO_PILGRIM said:
> 
> 
> > Chris Weigant: Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Timeline
> ...


*(COMMENT)*

It is not a matter of "who" you blame for what.  It is a matter of understanding the original intent versus the outcomes.

And that has to do with US Foreign Policy in, not only Iraq, but the entire region.  And it is do, in no small measure, to the lack of understanding what we _(The US)_ was planning to do after the cessation of hostilities _(PHASE IV - Post War Activities)_.  

Most Respectfully,
R


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