Words worthy of Rove

On Monday, the Maliki government's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said about a US withdrawa from Iraql: “The dangers vary from civil war to dividing the country or maybe to regional wars. In our estimation the danger is huge. Until the Iraqi forces and institutions complete their readiness, there is a responsibility on the U.S. and other countries to stand by the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people to help build up their capabilities.”

Hello? A civil war has been raging there for a long time. This "country" is already divided, with the Kurds flying their own Kurdistan flag and the Shias and Sunnis hating and killing each other on a daily basis. The"Iraqi forces" are not really an army; they do not show up when needed, and many are really militiamen with their own sectarian loyalties. The "country's" institutions--starting with the parliament--are dysfunctional, and Maliki is liable to be dumped by his own government. In the meantime, two million people have been displaced within Iraq's borders and another two million have fled to Syria, Jordan and beyond.

Zebari's Rovian statement sounds like it was emailed straight from the White House.