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-This week's post for Hudson NY is titled: Remembering the Americans.

Concluding paragraph:

America under Obama can physically escape from Iraq, but it cannot escape from its legacy in Iraq. It can choose to allow the broken jihadists and the ousted Ba’athists to define that legacy, or it can willfully shape how it shall be remembered. Given the way the world works these days, how others remember you filters back into how you remember yourself: will America’s strength and message endure and be reassured, or will the growl of the jackals grow louder?

-Maliki mouthed some very harsh words about the Ba'ath Party on Al-Iraqiyya TV. He said that the Ba'ath was "an absolute evil and whoever goes back to it will be held to account." These words are a clear reflection that his overtures towards Ba'athists, made in the hopes of establishing an alliance with the Mutlag faction, were rejected by Maliki's base. The link is here (Arabic text).

-Furthermore, MP Kamal al-Sa'idi of the Da'awa Party came out with the clearest expression (Arabic text) of his party's stance by saying that they didn't want the Islamic Party's candidate to assume the role of parliamentary speaker.