An Open Letter to President Nuri Kamal al-Maliki

President al-Maliki:

I tried. I really did. When you launched your Basra offensive and splashed Iraqi violence all over the front page of US papers, I wanted to believe you accomplished something. I drew attention to the JAM losses and implied that al-Sadr couldn't keep up with attrition. I talked about the significance of your independence from Sadr, putting a positive spin on what was basically an intra-political Shia feud. I gave you the benefit of the doubt on your allegedly quixotic quest to disarm JAM and its lesser Basra brethren. I even talked about the lack of Iraqi defections as proof that progress was being made in ISF training and organization. Whatever you have to say, you cannot claim that I was ever biased against you.

But I'm afraid that the two of must now part ways. It seems that you are determined to embarrass me by refuting every point I try to make in your favor. Yesterday I discovered that you had indeed embarked on a rash and poorly planned effort to take out your rivals, and that you would have probably committed political suicide if not for the intervention of the Americans who you kept out of the loop for so long. Today I find out that a thousand of your troops refused to fight your battles for you, after I specifically cited the LACK of defections as proof of ISF progress. I still believe the Iraqi Army is improving, but that tenuous accomplishment has been put in jeopardy by your complete and inexcusable lunacy. I'm still hopeful that your mistakes haven't crippled our efforts to stabilize your country, but if we do manage to leave behind a somewhat functional government you will receive no credit from me. We have saved your ass one too many times for that, and I refuse to defend your actions any longer.

Your embittered former apologist,
T.E. Shaw