Ahmadinejad Visits Baghdad, Meets With Prime Minister, Calls Iraq
"Brotherly"
BAGHDAD - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on an historic trip
to
Baghdad Sunday that America fueled the violence in Iraq, ****traying his
nation as a close friend of the neighbor it once fought in a bitter
eight-year war.
Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian president to visit Iraq, disputed U.S.
allegations that Tehran is training and equipping ****ite militias there.
The
American presence, he said, was responsible for drawing terrorists.
"The Iraqi people do not like the Americans," Ahmadinejad said at a press
conference with U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the Green
Zone
_ the heart of the American diplomatic presence.
"Six years ago, there were no terrorists in our region. As soon as the
others landed in this country and the region, we witnessed their arrival
and
presence," Ahmadinejad said Sunday night after meeting Abdul-Aziz
al-Hakim,
the leader of Iraq's largest ****ite political bloc.
The trip by Ahmadinejad, who once fought Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated
regime as a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, was a dramatic
illustration of one of the unintended consequences of the 2003 U.S.
invasion
_ the replacement of Saddam with ****ite forces closely allied to the
cleric-led Islamic republic next door.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, greeted Ahmadinejad with an
honor guard and a band that played both countries' national anthems. The
two
held hands at the red-carpet welcome ceremony in a traditional display of
friend****p. Talabani told Ahmadinejad to call him "Uncle Jalal," as he
known
in Iraq's Kurdish north.
Talabani said he and Ahmadinejad discussed economic, political, security
and
oil issues and planned to sign several unspecified agreements.
"We had very good talks that were friendly and brotherly," Ahmadinejad
said.
"We have mutual understandings and views in all fields, and both sides
plan
to improve relations as much as possible."
Then he cut through the Green Zone to visit al-Maliki in his Cabinet
offices.
The sprawling, American-controlled zone contains a massive new U.S.
embassy
and is heavily protected against occasional rocket attacks, which the
Americans have blamed on Iranian-backed ****ite extremists.
Ahmadinejad denied the charges at least twice during the day.
"Such accusations increase the problems of the Americans in the region,"
he
said.
Al-Maliki said Ahmadinejad's visit was "an expression of the strong desire
of enhancing relations and developing mutual interests after the past
tension during the dictator****p era."
About 1 million people died in the catastrophic war that erupted after
Saddam invaded Iran in 1980. But when Saddam's regime fell to the U.S.-led
invasion and Iraq's ****ite majority took power, long-standing ties between
the ****ites of both countries flourished again.
Ahmadinejad said he was "very pleased with his visit to an Iraq not ruled
by
a dictator," and stressed that Iran wanted a stable Iraq that would
benefit
the region.
"A united Iraq, a sovereign Iraq and an advanced Iraq is to the benefit of
all regional nations and the people of Iran," he said.
He announced the dates of his visit in advance, landed at Baghdad
International Air****t in daylight and drove through the capital, albeit in
a
heavily guarded convoy, on a relatively quiet day. Iraqi forces provided
security.
President Bush's visits are typically a surprise and involve trips to U.S.
military bases, like his journey to an air base in Anbar province last
September.
Bush said Saturday that he had advised al-Maliki to tell the Iranian
leader
to "quit sending in sophisticated equipment that's killing our citizens."
And the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, came to
Baghdad unannounced to visit with commanders and Iraqi officials.
Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a military spokesman, said Sunday that the U.S.
hopes the Iranian-Iraqi meetings produce "real and tangible results,"
which
in the American view would include Iran ending its alleged training and
funding of extremists.
Iraqi officials have said in recent weeks that they don't want the country
torn apart in a power struggle between the U.S. and Iran.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Fallujah, the scene of two battles
between U.S. troops and Sunni insurgents, and demonstrated for an hour
against Ahmadinejad's visit.
"The chieftains of Fallujah condemn the visit of Ahmadinejad to Baghdad,"
one of their banners read. Another 50 people demonstrated against the
visit
in northern Kirkuk, and tribal chieftains in the country's
****ite-dominated
southern region signed a petition against the visit.
Adnan al-Dulaimi, one of Iraq's most influential Sunni politicians, called
for restraint. He said the visit indicated the strong Iranian influence in
Iraq but hoped it would decrease tension between the two countries.
"We call upon the United States and Iran not to make Iraq a field for
their
struggle," he said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/02/ahmadinejad-us-fueling-i_n_89410.html
So, LETS SEE...Iraq and Iran are getting chummy....soon peace will
flourish
between both countries...Iran will help IRAQ get its oil pumping...what is
it worth now??..lets say...FORTY TRILLION DOLLARS..and that may be
conservative estimate...and we'll go back home...having lost thousands of
our soldiers...tens of thousands maimed....and maybe TWO TRILLION down the
IRAQI CRAPPER..THANKS BUSH..YOU LYING BASTARD..YOU WAR CRIMINAL..IT SHOULD
BE PRISON FOR YOU AND ALL OUR ADMINISTRATION...and maybe..just maybe, it
will be..
Don't forget $4/gal gasoline that our beloved prez knew nothing about.
The surge is working folks.....the surge in gas price is spot on.
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