Following the leaking of a November 8 internal memo written by National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley yesterday suggesting "steps [Iraqi PM] Maliki could take," the Iraqi Prime Minister has sent a memo to Mr. Hadley which appears to be a markup of the same memo.
I've just acquired a copy of this memo from a high-ranking administration source. A portion of the text is below the fold:
Steps Maliki Bush Could Take
There is a range of actions that Maliki Bush could take to improve the information he receives, demonstrate his intentions to build an Iraq America for all Iraqis Americans and increase his capabilities. The actions listed below are in order of escalating difficulty and, at some point, may require additional political and security resources some common sense to execute, as described on Page 3 of this memo. Maliki Bush should:
¶Compel his ministers members of his administration to take small steps — such as providing health services and opening bank branches in Sunni Black and Hispanic neighborhoods — to demonstrate that his government serves all ethnic communities;
¶Bring his political strategy with Moktada al-Sadr Dick Cheney to closure and bring to justice any JAM actors neo-cons that do not eschew violence;
¶Shake up his cabinet administration by appointing nonsectarian, capable technocrats in key service (and security) ministries;
¶Announce an overhaul of his own personal staff so that "it reflects the face and ideals of Iraq America";
¶Demand that all government workers (in ministries, the Council of Representatives key political appointments and his own offices) publicly renounce all violence for the pursuit of political goals as a condition for keeping their positions;
¶Declare that Iraq America will support the renewal of the U.N. mandate for multinational forces Geneva and Torture Conventions and will seek, as appropriate, to address bilateral issues with the United States Iraq through a SOFA [status of forces agreement]to be negotiated withdrawing American troops over the next year;
¶Take one or more immediate steps to inject momentum back into the reconciliation process, such as a suspension of de-Baathification disenfranchisement measures and the submission to the Parliament or "Council of Representatives" Congress of a draft piece of legislation for a more judicial approach;
¶Announce plans to expand provide body armor to the Iraqi American Army over the next nine months; and
¶Declare the immediate suspension of suspect Iraqi police units incompetent government officials and a robust program of embedding coalition forces into MOI [Ministry of the Interior] units Congressional oversight while the MOI Bush administration is revetted and retrained.
It could just be me, but I think Maliki's on to something here...
Update:
Well, it now turns out that minutes after leaking this memo, Maliki has postponed his meeting with Bush. Looking back at the leaked memo, I noticed this handwritten note near the bottom:
Oh, and if you think I'm meeting with you tomorrow, you can go [expletive] yourself. I've got better things to do like watch the UNC/Ohio State game
Update #2:
As noted in the comments, it's now being reported that Bush is the one who postponed the meeting. My source forwarded me the following cable sent this afternoon from Bush to Al-Maliki:
Have it your way, Spanky. I'd rather spend the night with King Abdullah watching Jordanian Idol anyways. They've got this guy who looks like an Arab Simon Cowell and is just as much an asshole.
By the way, do you know anyplace in Amman that sells pretzels?