Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s embattled Prime Minister, hit back at concerted American criticism of his Government yesterday, telling the US to stop interfering in Iraqi politics.

“The Iraqi Government emanates from the Iraqi people and only this people is empowered to decide its fate,” he said during a visit to Syria. “No one has the right to attribute a timetable,” he said, referring to US demands that he move faster to promote reconciliation between warring sects.

He accused US politicians of making “irresponsible criticisms”, and suggested that they were upset by his visit to Iran, a state that has only the chilliest relations with the US.

Mr al-Maliki was speaking after Mr Bush failed conspicuously to endorse him on Tuesday, the US Ambassador to Baghdad said that the Government’s performance was “extremely disappointing” and Carl Levin, Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged the Iraqi parliament to bring it down.

Mr Bush sought to patch up relations after Mr al-Maliki’s outburst. “Prime Minister Maliki is a good guy, good man with a difficult job and I support him,” he said in a speech to military veterans, adding: “It’s not up to politicians in Washington DC to say whether he will remain in his position. It is up to the Iraqi people.” But the damage had been done, fuelling intense speculation about how long Mr al-Maliki can survive.

The US Administration is frustrated with the failure to use the breathing space provided by its deployment of 30,000 additional troops for reconciliation. It has a failed to agree a fairer distribution of oil revenues, relax restrictions on former members of Baath parties taking senior jobs, or disband sectarian militias.

But diplomats and other experts say that he still has Washington’s grudging support because it recognises the problems he faces, that there is no obvious replacement and that the last thing Iraq needs is another long hiatus. They believe the criticism was designed partly to increase pressure, and partly to get the bad news out of the way before next month’s Iraq report.

Vietnam casualties

58,000 Americans killed

304,000 Wounded

500,000 to 600,000 Vietnamese killed

15 million Wounded. Many died after the war

Sources: www.vietnam-war.info , www.historyplace.com ;

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