Nouri al-Maliki's ego

Nouri al-Maliki is too focused on capitalizing politically on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities. A bizarre report from Stars and Stripes this morning (h/t Tom Ricks) about confusion within the Iraqi military:

"The message comes from the Ministry of Defense -- that we're not allowed to have combined operations with coalition forces," Iraqi army 1st Lt. Hussein Muhammed Ali told Hassan. "We would like to keep working together, but it's military orders."

I've been worried about this for a few weeks, and now I'm even more concerned. It's one thing to declare June 30 a holiday and play some patriotic songs on television. But preventing the army from running patrols with the U.S. military -- even if those joint patrols are better for Iraqi security? al-Maliki is putting his ego before good governance.