Iraqi Chutzpah

Once again I seem to have been late with the Chutzpah of the Week award, but this time it was definitely worth the wait. This week's award goes to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Now I realize that this guy is uncomfortable with his position and has good reason to be so. Nevertheless, we really have to think about the most recent torture news from Iraq that just appeared on Truthdig, courtesy of the BBC. Here is their summary (including a link to the BBC source):

British and Iraqi forces raided a National Iraqi Intelligence detention center on Sunday and discovered 30 prisoners, including two children, “many of whom showed signs of torture and abuse.” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the raid as an “illegal and irresponsible act” and has ordered an investigation.

If it is not immediately evident from the summary, the investigation is into the conduct of the raid, rather than the evidence discovered as a result of the raid. Whether or not al-Maliki has been learning about governance from his many meetings with White House representatives is open to question; but he may be getting chutzpah lessons from Condi!