MB Civic

By Jackson Diehl | Monday September 4, 2006 | The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/03/AR2006090300740.html

Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraq’s vice president, met with the administration just before labor Day, shunning publicity. He called his meetings with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and key senators and congressmen a “private visit.”
But Mahdi is closely allied with one of the truly powerful men left in Iraq, Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. Mahdi was sent with a message from Sistani: the ayatollah wanted to know if the United States is still on board as well. “It’s a critical moment. We want to be sure that we understand perfectly what’s going on, and what is the real strategy of the United States in Iraq,” Mahdi said. “We read in the press about different perspectives and attitudes. That’s why we want to be clear — whether there is a Plan B.” Excellent piece…pass the Prozac…BS