So on July 4 I had heard all over my local NPR station about this agreement that was reached among feuding parties in Iraq. A local professor--who was involved in delicate negotiations on this, and was described as a "veteran peacemaker" in my local paper--was effusive and excited about the release of the agreement.
A peacemaker. He succeeded in bringing feuding sides in Northern Ireland and South Africa together. This is no administration hack. This is a diplomatic guy--in the best sense of that word.
The talks were described on the NPR show by Robin Young as a being considered a "miracle" to the supporters of this private diplomatic effort. Listen to "Agreement in Iraq" here, it is in the first few minutes of the audio.
I blogged about it because I thought it was going to be all over the media: Iraqi "agreement" released tomorrow. I was wary, but thought it deserved a look. And some awareness for this community, because I expected that George and McSame would use it as evidence of the glorious success in Iraq.
But that sank like a rock instead.
Today I saw more from Padraig O'Malley. Now remember: this is a guy who is a peacemaker. A world-class diplomat. Let's see what he says today.
A matter of loyalty in Iraq
....What should have been an event of celebration became one that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki used to violate every principle of democracy we have been given to believe has taken firm hold in Iraq five years after Saddam’s fall....
Uh, say what? I bolded some of the text for emphasis here and below. This is not a man whose hair is flambé.
Could there be more?
Maliki’s office ordered the Al-Rasheed Hotel, the only hotel in the Green Zone, to cancel the use of a facility and the catering service that the ministry had reserved.
There's much much more. I don't want to use too much to violate any rules. You have to read this thing. I will add this.
He [Maliki] is, for all the propaganda about the advances of democratization, a despot in the making with all the appurtenances of power under lock and key.
I am stunned. Stunned. Not that the agreement didn't hold, of course. But that this hardworking and successful diplomat, a man willing to try to wrangle this disaster into something people could use to build their futures in Iraq, is calling out Maliki like this.
And that we hear nothing of this in the media.
Crickets.