The independent Kitabat newspaper in an editorial Monday titled "Did Al Maliki fall into the U.S. trap?" said the United States considered Iran the only danger in the world that threatens its interests in general and Israel's in particular.
It said the U.S. policy was clear against its opponents and that Iran understood what the United States intends to do. It said Iran had the advantage of the mistakes the United States made in Iraq.
"The government that is set up in Iraq, which is headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iraqi Alliance leader Abdul Azeez al-Hakeem has close ties with Iran in addition to the fact ministers and members of Parliament lived in Iran during Saddam's times are married to Iranians that makes Iran's presence in Iraq stronger," it said.
It said the United States was in a difficult situation as the resistance has clearly escalated in southern Iraq and the capital, and there are threats from Iran along with pressure from the Democrats to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.
"The U.S. administration gave the Iraqi prime minister two months to reconcile with former Baathists, intelligence and security forces and get rid of the Mahdi Army," the paper said.
It said the United States can't strike Iran unless there is a strong Sunni government in the region that is supported internationally.
"Al Maliki is making the same mistake that Saddam Hussein made when the U.S. administration gave him two conditions to stay in power: killing Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr, Moqtada Sadr's uncle, and striking Iran," the paper said.
The paper claimed that when Saddam Hussein failed to strike Iran, the United States thought of doing that itself by setting up military bases all over the region. And when Saddam invaded Kuwait, the United States took advantage of that, liberated Kuwait but left a military base there in addition to the bases in Iraq they have now.
"But the U.S. has faced another shock due to the strong resistance in Iraq and Maliki's connections to Iran which led them to use their well-known policy of turning sides against each other using Maliki's hatred toward Sadrists," the paper said.
The editorial said people should not be taken by surprise if they saw Maliki on TV being judged and accused of committing massacres, mass killings and ethnic cleansing, and other crimes that are documented and kept with the United States to present them to the public when it is time to get rid of him.
"Iraq will be given to the Sunnis, their parties and tribes yet again. They will be a lot stronger being supported nationally and internationally," the paper said.
"The bottom line is that Maliki should reconsider his actions before it is too late. He has strongly to confront the U.S. and their plans, end the violence in the south and the capital by improving local services," the paper said.
Addressing Maliki, it said: "If you can't fix the situation, you should come out and tell the people of Iraq that it is the U.S. who controls you and Iraq."
