John Burns: “I think the pressure that has been brought to bear on Mr. Maliki has been very considerable. And I think he was bound to…”

The Maliki government -- and in a sense, who can blame them -- has been preparing for some time for an eventual American military withdrawal and an all- out civil war.

The message of which is you don't control anything. And of course part of that message even perhaps a large part of that message is directed at the Congress in Washington, D.C.

He has said repeatedly that it is the duty of the people, something Hitler also said, in effect to die for him.

There's no doubt that the resignation of the Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has had a liberating effect. There's no doubt there is now a freer air about this.