From here it looks like Maliki has his eye on being Saddam the second. For that to happen, Iraq needs to become another 1 man, 1 vote, 1 time state such as happens to most proto democracies. Russia being a case in point.
For Maliki to get from here to there he needs to have an army and not have it be American. His problem is one of timing.
He needs to ensure that the army is loyal to him, but well enough equipped and trained to keep him in power. The fly in the soup is that as the US brings the Iraqi army up to speed, they become less ‘his’ army and more Iraq’s army.
Anybody else remember how much trouble it was to settle on Maliki in the first place? He needs to hold the elections and retire while he is still respected and slightly ahead.
If he does, in 100 years, he will known as the father of Iraq, IF the next A-hole doesn’t stage a coup. If the US Army can stay in Iraq another 10 years, the Iraq Army will be robust enough to stand with Iraq, not some politician with a glib tongue and great hair.
