Iraqi lawmaker to U.S.: "Back off"

CNN:

Iraqi lawmaker to U.S.: Back off or 'all options are open'

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An Iraqi lawmaker warned the U.S. military Sunday that if it doesn't immediately end its attacks on Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army, "all options are open to us."

Fawzi Tarzi, a Sadrist member of parliament, made his remarks as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad. His comments also follow airstrikes and firefights Saturday that left seven Shiite militants dead in Baghdad's Sadr City.

"Let it be known that disbanding the Mehdi Army will mean the end of [Prime Minister Nuri] al-Maliki's government, and therefore the siege of Sadr City and Shula should end immediately or all options are open to us," Tarzi said. "There is a fierce military and media campaign and a dirty political conspiracy planned and supported by the occupier against the Sadr trend."

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Tarzi called on humanitarian organizations and the world media to visit Sadr City to see what he described as a "humanitarian tragedy." The Baghdad neighborhood is plagued with "random airstrikes and raids," which are causing a deteriorating humanitarian situation, he said.
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Al-Sadr on Saturday gave his "last warning" to the Iraqi government that he would "declare a war" unless U.S. and Iraqi forces stop their assaults on his followers.

Loudspeakers at Sadr City mosques announced al-Sadr's warning Saturday evening, calling for followers to fight the "occupier," a witness said.

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Al-Sadr's threat was issued the same day that a man claiming to be the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq urged his fighters to launch an offensive against U.S. forces in the next few weeks.

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Within the the next month, militants should "offer the head of an American as a gift to the deceitful [President] Bush," he said.

The speaker also called for attacks on members of Iraqi awakening councils, a movement of mostly Sunnis who have joined forces with the U.S. and Iraqi governments in battling Islamic jihadists loyal to al Qaeda in Iraq.

"The occupier"?  What does Condi think about the use of that term by a member of the Iraqi government to describe U.S. forces?

And what does "all options are open" mean - Iraq as a sovereign nation is going to attack U.S. forces in Iraq?

I'm shocked CNN is even covering this. How much more of this is coming from the Iraqi government that is not being reported in the U.S. media?

John McCain - I think it is more important than ever that, as a United States Senator, you undertake an effort to understand the existence of, and difference between, Sunni and Shia.

Oh, and I almost forgot - the surge is working!

How much of this article impeaches everything Petraeus and Crocker said to Congress about 2 weeks ago?