In Iraq, same as everywhere else, the U.S. doesn't like to play by the rules, ours or anybody's

so, then condi drops in to beat them up over not getting their shit together and moving fast enough... well, duh... when they've got the good ol' u.s. of a second-guessing every decision you make, it's gotta be one hell of a mess trying to get a government up and running...

Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi agreed with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's assertion on Thursday that factional wrangling had led to a dangerous stalemate inside the ruling coalition.

But Mahdi, one of two vice presidents and a senior Shi'ite Islamist, said U.S. involvement in Iraq was an important contributor to the problem.

"Decision-making centres have proliferated -- the Multinational Force, the Americans ... and also the very numerous political groups that have taken part in the democratic experience," Mahdi told Reuters.

sounds kind of innocuous so far, eh...? keep reading...

Referring to Saddam's overthrow, Mahdi said: "Since the fall of the tyrant, the Iraqi state has been stalled by a series of brakes that hinder the taking of any internal decision."

The U.S. military, whose commander General George Casey only last month began handing control of some Iraqi army units to Maliki, also needed to step back to a supporting role, he said.

"When the military presence is not regulated by an agreement, an Iraqi official cannot act in his own land and over his own forces in the way he should," he said.

"The rules of the relationship are not clear. We're always having discussions with them but so far nothing is finalised."

U.S. military officials say they are negotiating with the government on some form of agreement to regulate the presence of troops once their United Nations mandate expires in December.

yeah, sure, george SAYS he wants them to be independent... george SAYS he's upholding the u.s. constitution too... the spoken and written word counts for nothing in bushworld...

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