December 1, 2006

Criticism of Maliki Not Just From Al Sadr

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As I wrote earlier today, Moqtada al Sadr and his followers are not a dissenting voice to be ignored. They criticized Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s meeting with President Bush saying that it was an affront to the Iraqi people. It now appears that al Sadr is not the only voice of opposition to Maliki. Today Sunni Vice President Tariq al Hashemi called for a new government and for a “coalition [to be] put in place with guarantees that ensure collective decision making.” (At least someone believes in this.) Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zikam Ali al Zubaie also criticized the Prime Minister saying that his government had not been successful in suppressing sectarian violence. I can’t help but think it’s no coincidence that this criticism by two top Sunni politicians directly followed Bush’s meeting with their superior. Today, President Bush said that we would “stay in Iraq…so long as the government wants us there.” I guess that depends on what the meaning of the word “wants” is.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

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So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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