It seems I haven't missed much... McSame claims Iraq is a 'peaceful stable country now' and Maliki continues to target the Sahwa and Sadrists. The SOFA is still stalled and Diala is still the powder keg fixing to explode! Yep, same old, same old...

However in several surprise moves Maliki has now set his sights on the Kurds...

As Aswat Aliraq points out...

A lawmaker from the main Shiite bloc on Friday said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has threatened the deployment of Kurdish forces outside the Kurdish enclave would make them face legal actions... ...“PM Al-Maliki told Kurds any Peshmerga fighter deployed outside the blue line would face legal actions,” MP Humam Hamoudi from the United Iraqi Coalition(UIC) bloc told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).

Maliki has told the Kurds to get behind the 1991 blue line or else! In other Kurdish related moves, Maliki is also targeting the Kurds' budget allocations. He is trying to reduce the Kurdish allotment from 17% to 14%. Another interesting move by Maliki is the removal of Kurds from the SOFA negotiations, as Roads to Iraq noted...

This is the Kurds version:

According to Kurdish MP Mahmud Othman, Maliki is not satisfied with the Foreign Ministry team and want to supervise the negotiation by himself. That is why he chose the new team members from his loyalists.

But it is unknown if Maliki wants to remove the Kurds from the negotiations because there is no official statement yet.

An official statement has been released...

The Political Council for National Security is regularly updated on the progress of negotiations taking place between Baghdad and Washington over the long-term security agreement, a Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC) leader said on Saturday. "The council is constantly updated on what is going on between Iraq and the United States with regards to the security strategy," read an UIC statement received by Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq- (VOI), quoting Redha Jawad Taqi. The council comprises the Iraqi presidency, the prime ministry and the Parliament's presidency. "The negotiating delegation with the United States is a governmental, rather than a political delegation. It does not represent political blocs or parties. The government is the authority concerned with the negotiations and is responsible for the formation of the delegation and its change," Taqi added.

I find it amusing in their choice of wording and their insistence that it's not a 'political' move, rather a 'governmental' move...

In a surprise twist, it seems that Shrub is headed to Iraq in the near future... It seems it would have to occur after his RNC convention speech though...

The newest blogger at Abu Muqawama, Iraqologist, fleshes out Maliki's actions against the Kurds...

Barzani’s office issued a statement saying it’s odd, since Khanaqin is a pretty safe place, that the IA would enter ostensibly to combat terrorism. Another prominent Kurdish official went on to claim that the “government mobilization” on Khanaqin was intended to preempt its resolution by 140. Then Maliki said that it was the “right of the army to enter any province or region in Iraq without exception” [emphasis added to highlight inflammatoriness]. Barzani responded by saying that the KRG was ready to “play cards it has never played before,” including withdrawing support from Maliki’s government....

...The PUK/KDP had as a tactical ally in this effort ISCI, with whom their relationship goes back to at least 1992, not borne out of the exigencies of post-2003 politics as many assume. ISCI was a full partner in the drafting of the constitution, even though its own region-formation ambitions appear to have faded for now. ISCI has supported Kurdish claims on Kirkuk, but since they no longer appear much interested in creating a balanced, symmetrical federalist system in Iraq, it has less strategic interest in taking this position. In other words, since ISCI appears committed to dominating Iraq from Baghdad, it’s not in their interest to be effectively ceding territory. They certainly don’t seem to be standing in the way of Maliki/IA’s recent agitation against the Kurds.

Perhaps more importantly, though Maliki has glommed himself onto ISCI in most respects, he is still his own man and does come from a much different ideological background. Iraqologist tends to explain current Iraqi politics in terms of money and power rather than ideology, but it may be worth pointing out here that Maliki has never been much of a fan of federalism (cf Visser). Even if that’s not convincing, his current much-discussed overconfidence and strongman ambitions should be enough evidence that he’s not about to give in to the Kurds, despite their being a pillar of his government. Arab Iraqis are getting pretty fed up with PUK/KDP territorial ambitions—especially after their obstructionism on the PEL—and he can get a lot of mileage out of this.

Anyway, the big point here is that the main ISCI/Kurd/Maliki bedrock alliance of the past two years is showing some strain. Iraqologist could go on and on speculating about the implications of this, how much is the result of chance (and the recent Maliki psychodrama) vs. how much it’s a consequence of the “center” emerging in Baghdad and how that affects calculations on all sides.

Azzaman talked about the souring relations between the Kurds and Maliki too...

Now, on a personal note, I'd like to apologize for my unanticipated absence. As I live on a fixed income and my food supply for my family was depleted, I had to pawn my computer to buy groceries... I apologize, but I had to do what I had to do... (P.S. I have a 'donate' button above)

Mahalo Nui Loa!!!