White house denies differences with Iraqi PM
Iraq-USA, Politics, 10/31/2006

Asked about US National Security Advisor Steve Hadley's trip to Iraq and to address talk of a possible rift between the President and Maliki, a White House spokesman denied the existence of a rift.

Tony Snow said "we've now had the Prime Minister saying there's no rift, the President saying there's no rift, the National Security Advisor of Iraq saying there's no rift, the US Ambassador to Iraq saying there's no rift, the US National Security Advisor saying there's no rift, and my telling you, on the basis of my observation of the secure conference call the other day, that there's no rift. So there's no rift .Now, I mean, I don't know how many more people you can marshal, but it seems that all the people who've been in the room and have been in critical positions are saying that."

Snow added "What Steve is doing is paying a visit and assessing the situation, also talking with the Prime Minister. I think -- again, let me stress the thing that has been most impressive to us, which is the assertiveness of the Prime Minister when it comes to wanting to take over important security operations within Iraq. We could not be happier that we've got a Prime Minister who is a man of action and man who is making decisions. That is absolutely essential for the future of Iraq."

Snow said "And he's not simply doing it on the security side. He's been very aggressive in recent weeks, as I've pointed out on the political side, reaching out both to Shiite and to Sunni. He's been very aggressive on the economic front, and he was giving a readout of economic success in the country. So he understands that to be a Prime Minister means more than simply having to be a commander-in-chief.It means to be a unifying force in a country where a lot of people are yearning to have a free and democratic society. They expressed that with their votes last year. So, far from having a rift between the two sides, what you have is precisely what the President hoped he would see when he first met the Prime Minister, which is somebody who is willing to make hard decisions, who is willing to lead, who is assertive and also pretty clear-eyed about the challenges that await him."

Previous Stories:
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