Newshoggers Archive: Maliki To Mullen: Can You Hear me Now?

Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.

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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Maliki To Mullen: Can You Hear me Now?

By Steve Hynd

Another day, another attempt by Prime Minister Maliki's office to get the Obama administration and US military to listen.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has pledged that Baghdad would not ask US troops to stay in the country beyond a year-end pullout, his office said on Saturday.

Maliki said that the decision had been taken despite Iraq's desire for stronger military ties with Washington, and alluded to political difficulties he would have in getting approval for any extended American presence.

"We are not going to ask for an extension for US forces, in spite of our keenness to continue cooperation with the United States in all areas, including military," he told a South Korean news organisation, according to a transcript of an April 20 interview released by his office.

In a nod to domestic political opposition to any US presence beyond the end of 2011, he noted: "As you know, the process... does not only require the approval of the government, but also a vote in parliament."

Admiral Mullen seems to be the point man for the Obama administration's "nah-nah-nah, I can't hear you" act in Iraq. Let's see if this one gets through to him.