Analysis: US pressure on Iraq to pass key laws may backfire

U.S. pressure on Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki to speed up reconciliation among warring sects could backfire as Iraqi leaders don't want to be seen as taking orders from an increasingly impatient Washington.

U.S. commanders leading a Baghdad crackdown aimed at giving Maliki time to pass power-sharing laws refer to a Washington clock and a Baghdad clock ticking at different speeds.

General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, summed up the dilemma on Thursday when he spoke of an American clock "moving at a rapid rate of speed that reflects the frustration, impatience, disappointment, anger and a variety of other emotions" and a Baghdad clock "not moving as rapidly".

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