Iraqi leader denounces critics in U.S.

The religious sects refuse to work together in governing the nation.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s embattled prime minister lashed out at American critics Sunday, saying Sen. Hillary Clinton and other Democrats who have called for his ouster should “come to their senses” and stop treating Iraq like “one of their villages.”

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also lambasted the U.S. military for raids in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, adding new strains ahead of next month’s showdown in Washington over the future of the U.S. mission.

The grim combination of ongoing violence and political deadlock have increased frustration in both Washington and Baghdad, with American lawmakers increasingly critical of al-Maliki’s performance and Iraqi leaders growing weary of what they consider unfair U.S. criticism.

Clinton and Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have called for al-Maliki to be replaced.

“There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin. They should come to their senses,” al-Maliki said at a news conference.

Al-Maliki denounced recent U.S. military actions in the Baghdad Shiite neighborhoods of Shula and Sadr City that according to the Iraqis resulted in civilian deaths.

“Concerning American raids on Shula and Sadr City, there were big mistakes committed in these operations. The terrorist himself should be targeted not his family,” al-Maliki said “We will not allow the detaining of innocent people.”

Clash

Two nights ago the U.S. military clashed with Shiite gunmen in Shula after they attacked an American patrol. The U.S. said eight “terrorists” were killed, but some Iraqis reported civilians were among the dead and injured.

U.S. forces also are routinely raiding Shiite militiamen in Sadr City, often calling in helicopter fire.

Al-Maliki launched his verbal counteroffensive about two weeks before the American commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are due in Washington to report to Congress on progress in Iraq since the introduction of 30,000 more American troops.

The presence of those reinforcements has done little to bring about political reconciliation among Iraq’s Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds — the key to lasting stability.

In the latest in a series of political crisis meetings, Iraq’s top leaders failed again Sunday to persuade the main Sunni bloc to join a new alliance of Shiites and Kurds to break the political impasse.

This month’s decision by the Sunnis’ Iraqi Accordance Front to bolt the al-Maliki government plunged the country into a political crisis.

During his press conference, the Shiite prime minister said a negative report by Petraeus would not cause him to change course, although he said he expected that the U.S. general would “be supportive of the government and will disappoint the politicians who are relying on it” to be negative.

Nevertheless, al-Maliki appeared stung by the recent series of critical statements about his government, including one from President Bush, who said he was frustrated that al-Maliki had failed to make progress on political benchmarks. Crocker has said the lack of movement had been “highly disappointing.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Sunday that al-Maliki’s government “is still pretty much a disaster” despite some progress made.

“It’s a democratically elected government, and I don’t think we can dictate to them,” McConnell said. Nonetheless, McConnell said, senators from both parties agree the Shiite prime minister has been “a huge disappointment.”

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who visited Iraq this month, said he told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that al-Maliki has “got to be replaced.”

Al-Maliki said the Iraqi government would demand an apology.

Criticism of al-Maliki’s stewardship has fueled Democrat calls in Congress for an end to the increasingly unpopular war.

Last week Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said the United States should order a token withdrawal of forces by Christmas. Warner said such a move would show al-Maliki that Washington was serious about progress on reconciliation among the country’s religious sects and ethnic groups.

North of Baghdad, fighting broke out in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, when about 30 masked gunmen stormed a house where American soldiers had established an observation post, according to U.S. spokesman Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly.

That triggered a gunbattle in the stairwell, after which the gunmen fled in a vehicle. Donnelly said U.S. aircraft tracked the gunmen to the house that was bombed. Iraqi officials said seven civilians, including five children, were killed.

A Kurdish security official said a U.S. helicopter attacked two Kurdish police outposts on Sunday, killing four policemen and wounding eight. THe said he believed the attack was mistaken friendly fire.