Iraq's Agony

"Today we are facing a grave constitutional breach and we have appealed and we have the proof that we are the largest bloc. We assure all the Iraqi people and the political groups that there is no importance or value to this nomination."
(former) Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

"One of the major concerns (the U.S.) had in 2010 is the degree to which al-Maliki was trying to coup-proof his military. The U.S. worked hard with the military to make them understand that loyalty had to be to country, not to al-Maliki, but al-Maliki cut the forces to replace competent people with less-competent people loyal to him."
Richard Brennan, Iraqi special forces expert, Rand Corporation

"Iraq could become a tale of two prime ministers, each claiming to have the constitution supporting their claim."
"It will either end by legal venue or by conflict."
Ramzy Mardini, Iraqi expert, Atlantic Council, Washington, D.C.

 

Iraqis chant pro-government slogans and display placards bearing a picture of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 11, 2014. Al-Maliki is taking his struggle to keep his job to the courts after announcing he will file a legal complaint on Monday against the country's newly elected president. President Barack Obama warned Americans on Saturday that the new campaign to bring security in Iraq requires military and political changes and "is going to be a long-term project." (AP Photo/ HadiMizban)

 

Iraq stands on the brink of total collapse. It has already lost the greater portion of its geography to the rapaciously butchering Islamists who have declared their Caliphate melding the border between Syria and Iraq, committing vile acts of barbarism as they progress toward octopus-like embracing ever greater tracts of state land to its venomous bosom. Baghdad itself teeters at the edge. The Iraqi military proved its courageous mettle by melting away, when confronted by the Islamic State fighters.

But its resolutely Shiite-dominating prime minister whose scornful view of the equality between Shiite and Sunni, Arab and Kurd, led to the current situation where Iraqi Sunni tribesmen finally saw fit to at least temporarily unite with the Islamist terrorists to bring down the Shiite-led government. In the face of total disaster, Nouri al-Maliki, despite criticism from those advisers closest to him in his own political party, and the obvious decision of the United States to do nothing to aid Iraq while it is governed by him, refuses to step down.

Raging against the injustice of not having been nominated for a third disastrous term leading the country, even some of his sectarian supporters have abandoned his cause, feeling as his most ardent critics do, that he has largely contributed to the country's crisis through his monopolization of power, his sectarian agenda that served to alienate the country's Kurdish and Sunni minorities. His supporters, on the other hand, call "We are with you, al-Maliki", waving posters, singing and dancing.

Haider al-Ibadi, deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, representing al-Maliki's own Shiite Dawa party is now the new prime minister, given 30 days to present a new government for approval. The president's choice of an alternate to al-Maliki in an attempt to bring control and order and justice back to the country and stem the tide of the overwhelming Islamic State victories has infuriated the man whose self-interest trumps that of the future of his nation.

He has characterized the appointment of a replacement prime minister as "a coup against the constitution and the political process", refusing to step down, contesting the legality of this new initiative, one which has brought congratulations from the American administration. Hundreds of Nouri al-Maliki's supporters were brought to a rally site by military trucks as the former prime minister deployed his elite security troops in the streets of Baghdad, raising fears of a forced showdown.

For his part, the new prime minister pledged that he would form a government to "protect the Iraqi people". He had received the majority of votes from lawmakers within the Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition of Shiite parties; obviously choosing to shun Mr. al-Maliki, in defence of the country's best interests. Yet there is an air of apprehension, given the former prime minister's having replaced many senior Sunni officers in the military with less-experienced, but loyal-to-him Shiite officers.

And now, a more equality-prone Shiite leadership can hope to inspire its military to act in defense of the country, presumably with the realization that their continued flaccid response will lead to its total destruction. A faint hope, but one most certainly worth pursuing, now that the United States is finally convinced it has no option but to commit to supporting a country whose infrastructure and government it had once destroyed.