Who Knew?

I think Maliki attended the Bush school of leadership:

Without mentioning the Sadrists by name, al-Maliki said he was "surprised to see that party emerge with all the weapons available to it and strike at everything — institutions, people, departments, police stations and the army."

Al-Sadr's followers have accused rival Shiite parties in the national government of trying to crush their movement before provincial elections this fall. The young cleric's lieutenants had warned repeatedly that any move to dislodge them from Basra would provoke bloodshed.

But al-Maliki's comments appeared to reinforce suspicions that his government failed to foresee the backlash, including a sharp upsurge in violence throughout the Shiite south and shelling of the U.S.-controlled Green Zone, the nerve center of the Iraqi leadership and the U.S. mission.

Let's review the bidding:

Iraq policemen surrendering to Mahdi militiamen ... check (wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?).

U.S. airstrikes destroying Basra to save it ... check.

Iraqi leadership clueless ... check.

American leadership clueless ... check.

A lack of Iraqi popular support for an occupier supported government ... check.

A high level of support for insurgents demanding the withdrawal of occupiers ... check.

Yep, sure sounds like Bush leadership. And who in the world could have foreseen it except maybe a bunch of dirty hippies on the internets? (snark intended). Maliki keeps making statements like this:

Despite the mounting crisis, al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, vowed to remain in Basra until government forces wrest control from militias, including al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. He called the fight for control of Basra "a decisive and final battle."

Maliki may eat those words. On the other hand, being from the Bush school of leadership, he can certainly find a way to weasel out of such a flat statement after he gets his butt handed to him.