Maliki: US should have equipped Iraq with better weapons

Iraqi security forces would have better control over their country if the United States had equipped them with more and better weapons, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said in an interview published today by an Italian daily.

Commenting on US President George Bush’s plan for Iraq, Maliki told Milan-based daily Corriere della Sera that the situation would not be so dire if the Americans had moved faster.

“The situation would be much better if the United States had immediately sent our security forces more adequate weapons and equipment.

“If they had committed themselves more and with greater speed we would have had a lot fewer deaths among Iraqi civilians and American soldiers,” Maliki was quoted as saying by Corriere.

However, the premier stopped short of openly criticising Bush’s plan to send 21,500 more troops to join the estimated 130,000 already there.

“We have to see how the situation in the field will go,” he said. “We cannot rule out that the situation will drastically improve, allowing US troops to leave the country in great numbers in three to six months.”

Maliki was deeply critical of the US administration during the interview, and Corriere quoted the Iraqi leader as saying Bush had capitulated to domestic pressure when he criticised the hanging of former leader Saddam Hussein.