Our Man in Baghdad?

Seems that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in a little bit of hot water. Senator Carl Levin is calling for Maliki to be removed from office. And it seems the president isn't as keen on Maliki as he once was. But this statement takes the cake:

Clearly, the Iraqi government's got to do more.

How many years have we been hearing that one? I wonder exactly how much time the Iraqi government has "to do More." Maybe to the end of the Bush presidency?

It also seems that the generals on the ground in Iraq don't have much use for Maliki either:

"Army Chief of Staff George Casey, who spent several days last week meeting with top U.S. regional commanders here, said he was taken aback by the intensity of anti-Maliki sentiment among senior U.S. officers. 'I heard more people talk about Maliki not making it through his full term in two days than I had heard in all of my previous time here,' Gen. Casey said. 'There's a frustration with his inability to be a reconciliation leader, and a fear that the momentum generated by the surge could just be frittered away.' . . .

"'It would be a huge shame if after all the military has accomplished with the surge we don't get a political accommodation,' he said. 'But I'm not optimistic.'"

Again the question needs to be asked what happens after the surge. What happens in April when the troops will have to be drawn down? As it always seems to be with the Bush administration and Iraq, these questions have not been considered. If there is no progress on the political problems in Iraq, the moves for reconciliation, the surge will have been a waste. And right now there looks like there has been no progress especially with the Iraqi parliament on vacation for the month of August.