Ahmadinejad says he will continue mischief in Iraq

NY Times:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, arriving Sunday in Baghdad to begin what he declared a “new chapter” in relations between his country and Iraq, warned President Bush that America’s problems in the Middle East would worsen as long as he continued to accuse Iran of interfering in Iraq.

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The visit made plain the determination of Iraqi leaders to move closer to Tehran despite American accusations that Iran finances and supports militias inside Iraq. Mr. Ahmadinejad received hugs from several dignitaries who greeted him, including Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite.

At a news conference the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, seemed to distance himself from American criticism of Iran.

“I think that the level of trust is very high,” Mr. Maliki said. “And I say frankly that the position Iran has taken recently was very helpful in bringing back security and stability.”

A question from an Arab television correspondent to Mr. Ahmadinejad — about Mr. Bush’s statements that Iran provides weaponry to militias — appeared awkward for Mr. Maliki, who turned to Mr. Ahmadinejad as if to distance himself from the query.

“That’s what he said,” Mr. Maliki told his counterpart, making clear that what the reporter was asking about was not something Mr. Maliki had said.

Mr. Ahmadinejad responded: “You can tell Mr. Bush that making accusations about others will increase the Americans’ problems in the region. They will have to accept the facts in the area. The Iraqi people do not like the Americans.”

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“I think Ahmadinejad is the most criminal and bloody person in the world,” said Emad Abbas, a 21-year-old university student in Samarra, a city in the Sunni heartland north of Baghdad. “This visit degrades Iraq’s dignity, and it proves that Iraq is occupied twice, once by the United States and once by Iran.”

Protests broke out in a number of places. In Kirkuk, where Sunni Arabs are fighting efforts by Kurds to control the city, Arab tribes and political parties rallied against the visit.

“How can we tolerate this?” said Salman Abdullah Al-Hamad, an Arab tribal leader in Kirkuk. “Today we live under the regime of the clerics. The Iranian revolution has been exported to Iraq.”

Hundreds of Sunnis also took to the streets in Falluja and demanded that Iran quit meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq.

“Ahmadinejad is the main reason why the occupiers remain in Iraq,” said Mohammed Dira Farhan, 50, a Falluja businessman. “His visit is intended to reassure his followers here,” he said, but the Iranian leader is “provoking and enraging” many Iraqis.

What a pompous jerk. If we tell the truth about him and his regime he promises to make more trouble. The Iraqi officials should be ashamed of themselves for putting up with this guys lies and nonsense. The evidence of Iranian involvement is irrefutable in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps the US military should greet him with a show and tell on the Iranian weapons that have been found as well as the statements from some of Ahmadinejad's forces who have been captured.

His provocative words will not change the will of the US to defeat his operations in both countries. If the Iraqis really do not want the US to continue helping them all they have to do is say so and yet they have not. They continue to tell the Americans how grateful they are for our sacrifice and effort.

Ahmadinejad needs to save that BS for a Democrat administration, if we are ever so unfortunate to have one any time soon.