Maliki Must Go?
A number of U.S. politicians and news media, to include the New York Times, have called for the removal of Iraq’s PM Nuri Kamal Al Maliki.
The New York Times printed a story by Nussaibah Younis ” Why Maliki Must Go”: “Nobody wants another civil war in Iraq, yet events are propelling it in that direction. War can be averted only by a new political understanding among three main groups, Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs and Kurds but Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has become too divisive to deliver it.”
But who will take his place?
Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, remains in exile, having fled the bogus charges on terrorism and then been given a death sentence in absentia. Similar moves to charge Finance Minister Rafe al-Essawi, a moderate Sunni, led to the protests and riots that have now engulfed Iraq’s Sunni heartland and alienated other communities. An army response to a protest encampment caused more violence.
While Iraq is now governed by Shiite Muslims in line with the Iranian Shiite regime, Maliki has allowed Iranian aircraft to fly over Iraq to provide arms and other support to the Bashar al-Assad Shiite forces.