Iraq’s al-Maliki Pushes Back Against the U.S.

Tensions between the Iraqi and U.S. government comes to a head.

What happened

Growing tension between the U.S. and Iraqi governments broke into the open this week, when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki demanded that U.S. troops remove their checkpoints from the streets of Baghdad. The checkpoints had been set up to help search for a kidnapped U.S. soldier. But Shiites complained that they were blocking the movement of Shiite militias, which they now see as the best defense against Sunni insurgents. 'œI am a friend of the United States,' al-Maliki declared, 'œbut I am not America's man in Iraq.' The U.S. military agreed to abandon the checkpoints. Tensions between the two governments were raised further when militant Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr blamed U.S. troops for a security lapse that allowed Sunni insurgents to detonate a bomb in a crowded square in Baghdad, killing at least 33 Shiites.

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