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US Slams Its Former Iraq Puppet: "The Maliki Government, Candidly, Has Got To Go"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

It was two days ago when we reported that America's third crusade in Iraq "Is Not Going As Planned: Iraq Prime Minister Defies US, Accuses Saudi Arabia Of "Genocide"", in which we said that "something unexpected happened: Iraq's Shi'ite rulers defied Western calls on Tuesday to reach out to Sunnis to defuse the uprising in the north of the country, declaring a boycott of Iraq's main Sunni political bloc and accusing Sunni power Saudi Arabia of promoting "genocide."... the Shi'ite prime minister has moved in the opposite direction of Obama's demands, announcing a crackdown on politicians and officers he considers "traitors" and lashing out at neighbouring Sunni countries for stoking militancy."

Furthermore, Maliki managed to infuriate not only the US with his intransigence, but more importantly Saudi Arabia whom he accused, accurately many would say, of being the true aggressor and instigator of sectarian violence, saying "we hold them responsible for supporting these groups financially and morally, and for the outcome of that - which includes crimes that may qualify as genocide: the spilling of Iraqi blood, the destruction of Iraqi state institutions and historic and religious sites."

This promptly escalated when, as we wrote yesterday, "In Escalating War Of Words, Saudi Arabia Fires Back At Iraq, Warns Of Civil War, Opposes Foreign Intervention."

That was just it: nothing but words, as certainly Saudi Arabia has zero diplomatic pull with Iraq. However, it does with the US.

Which is perhaps why the culmination of all the events in the past weeks was revealed overnight when when, as the WSJ revealed, "the Obama administration is signaling that it wants a new government in Iraq without Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, convinced the Shiite leader is unable to reconcile with the nation's Sunni minority and stabilize a volatile political landscape. The U.S. administration is indicating it wants Iraq's political parties to form a new government without Mr. Maliki as he tries to assemble a ruling coalition following elections this past April, U.S. officials say."

From the WSJ:

Such a new government, U.S., officials say, would include the country's Sunni and Kurdish communities and could help to stem Sunni support for the al Qaeda offshoot, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, that has seized control of Iraqi cities over the past two weeks. That, the officials argue, would help to unify the country and reverse its slide into sectarian division.

 

A growing number of U.S. lawmakers and Arab allies, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are pressing the White House to pull its support for Mr. Maliki. Some of them are pushing for change in exchange for providing their help in stabilizing Iraq, say U.S. and Arab diplomats.

Here is how the US defines "democracy", courtesy of Dianne Feinstein:

The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) told a congressional hearing Wednesday: "The Maliki government, candidly, has got to go if you want any reconciliation."

In other words, yet another majority-elected ruler is about to be replaced because the US is not quite happy with how he is operating. And to think this strategy worked out so well in Ukraine in the last few months.

Needless to say, one can't have yet another direct US intervention in another nation's affairs without John Kerry being present. Sure enough, he is:

Mr. Kerry was even more pointed in his criticism of Mr. Maliki on Monday, arguing his removal could help stabilize Iraq's sectarian divide.

 

"If there is a clear successor, if the results of the election are respected, if people come together with the cohesiveness necessary to build a legitimate government that puts the reforms in place that people want, that might wind up being very salutatory," he told Yahoo News.

 

Mr. Maliki's State of Law coalition won a plurality of seats, 92 out of 328, in Iraq's parliamentary elections. The country is waiting for ratification of the results, after which the parliamentary speaker will call on the leadership of Mr. Maliki's party to form a new government.

As we also noted yesterday, things in the middle east have flip-flopped so much in recent months, that Iraq, which for years was a close US ally has been left to fend for itself, while a sworn US enemy, Iran, is now America's closest middle-east ally, on par with Saudi Arabia. So much so that Iran may be instrumental in determining the next Iraq government.

Current and former U.S. officials said Iran will be crucial a player in efforts to form a new government in Baghdad and potentially remove Mr. Maliki, and will push for any new government to be friendly to its interests.

 

Tehran and Washington are Iraq's most important diplomatic, economic and military partners. And both the U.S. and Iran have pledged in recent days to support the Iraqi government in its fight against ISIS.

 

Former U.S. officials said both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations communicated regularly with Iranian diplomats in Baghdad during the political deliberation in 2006 and 2010 that previously elected Mr. Maliki. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns discussed Iraq's political reform process with Iranian officials on Monday in Vienna, according to the State Department.

And then there is of course, Saudi Arabia:

"We believe that Maliki's sectarianism and exclusion of Sunnis has led to the insurgency we are seeing," said a senior Arab official. "He unfortunately managed to unite ISIS with the former Baathists and Saddam supporters."

In conclusion, Iraq's third liberation, this time from a puppet government the US itself appointed to the country, is about to proceed, with the result being yet another puppet state, this time controlled by a joint venture of Iran and Saudi Arabia, which will be quite amusing to watch considering the two countries are hardly bestest buddies.

In the meantime, keep an eye on ISIS - the terrorist organization with the glossy annual report, which many say is merely a front for someone else, has managed to dig itself in within the Sunni communities in the north, and is the biggest wildcard. One wonders how long until the mercenary force finds its latest major backer, because for all the western, US-led intervention, both Russia and China are oddly missing from the scene. We expect that to change soon.

 

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Thu, 06/19/2014 - 09:49 | 4873333 cherry picker
cherry picker's picture

I thought Iran was part of the Axis od Evil and the USA had sanctions against it fbecause they were building nuclear power plants which the USA was really a cover for wmd, now they are our biggest friend along with the Saudi perpetrators of 9/11 and Al Quaida.

I have nothing against Iran, but the busllshit coming out of DC is smelling worse by the hour.

I am glad he isn't my president and Fienstein has no control over me.  Kerry is just a lap dog.

I hope the president of Iraq can pull the nation together and I hope he tells his gringo masters to fuck offf

If I were Iran, I would tell the CIA and US forces to go home and mind their own business as well.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 09:55 | 4873351 insanelysane
insanelysane's picture

Tylers,

Don't think the MSM in the US will be covering this.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2661878/ISIS-supporters-make-moc...

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:55 | 4873679 Wild Theories
Wild Theories's picture

Oh, boy, thanks for the comedy injection.

 

PS. you might want to send it to tips for the attention of Tylers.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:04 | 4873405 Winston Smith 2009
Winston Smith 2009's picture

"The Maliki Government, Candidly, Has Got To Go"

"Regime Change" v2.0. F'ing morons. The artificial construct called "Iraq" was doomed to split apart into Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish parts as soon as their dictator was deposed and the US left. What a fiasco.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:04 | 4873408 the tower
the tower's picture

There is so much hate towards the USA being generated... It's time the American people reign in their rogue government...

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:32 | 4873546 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

We're Americans...

We don't care.

Have a cheezeburger.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:15 | 4873467 ZeroFreedom
ZeroFreedom's picture

We should have broken Iraq into several coutries sice it is a failed state created by the British and French after WW 1. Never should have been a country. Time to go and break it up not try to save it.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:24 | 4873517 Bemused Observer
Bemused Observer's picture

That whole region needs to be reshuffled, and allowed to settle into its proper configurations.
The problem is that the governments of those fake states are all indebted to the West for their powers, and won't give them up without a fight. A fight that they will try like hell to drag US into.
Of course, this cozy relationship is also why those governments will NEVER be seen as legitimate by the Arabs in the street.
And we will never understand that, so we will continue to make things worse with every attempt to "manage" these countries.
And the stupid people here will keep on telling themselves that those folks 'hate us for our freedoms', as their emails and phone convo's are collected by the NSA, as they are herded into "First Amendment areas", and their children are groped by airport security...
How's that "freedom" taste, America?

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 11:37 | 4873548 Emergency Ward
Emergency Ward's picture

"Frankly, Surveillance Reichsleiter Feinstein has got to go."

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:45 | 4873623 RealityCheque
RealityCheque's picture

Aaaannnddd.......droned.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:47 | 4873632 kellycriterion
kellycriterion's picture

SUNNI ATTACKS AGAINST SHIITES HAVE NEVER STOPPED.

Let's hypothesize that conservative radicals perpetrated 1% of the violence of Sunnis in Iraq against favored groups of the Dem coalition here in the US. How would Obama and his administration have reacted?

But the Shiites aren't being inclusive and tolerate enough. It's Maliki's fault. Anyone who doesn't take their marching orders from DC and Riyadh winds up with a goon squad on their doorstep.

Is it possible for any paradigm outside of a westernized military dictatorship to please both DC and Riyadh?

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:56 | 4873675 Winston Smith 2009
Winston Smith 2009's picture

Here's what I believe to be a balanced and accurate view:

Fareed's Take: Who lost Iraq?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2z4gzuvgm8

However, I think we should be totally "hands off" with Iraq. No help or intervention of any kind. They sink or they swim, and they'll probably sink. That was virtually guaranteed from the start. 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 11:44 | 4873908 kellycriterion
kellycriterion's picture

If you think this is hands off in Iraq or any where in MENA you've bought the propaganda.

Let's see who are the good guys in MENA? Repressive dictatorships aligned with the US. Egypt with the military and bureaucrat front men firmly in charge. Jordan and the Gulf monarchies. The exception? Perhaps Turkey. But I wonder what might happen if they got too uppity? Certainly the incentives say obey more than ever.

It isn't clear that anyone who doesn't follow the US, Israel, KSA status quo is marked for extinction?

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 10:57 | 4873688 joego1
joego1's picture

This time is different. Stock up for the shit storm.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 11:35 | 4873864 tony wilson
tony wilson's picture
Maliki should invite putin in.

76th Guards Air Assault Division  Pskov. 23rd Guards Airborne Regiment 

for starters should buy maliki some time from this jewish onslaught

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 12:16 | 4874013 news printer
news printer's picture
Sunni Extremists in Iraq Occupy Hussein's Chemical Weapons Facility Officials Don't Believe the Militants Will Be Able to Create a Functional Weapon From the Material By
Julian E. Barnes 

connect June 19, 2014 11:10 a.m. ET

Washington—Sunni extremists in Iraq have occupied what was once Saddam Hussein's premier chemical-weapons production facility, a complex that still contains a stockpile of old weapons, State Department and other U.S. government officials said.

U.S. officials don't believe the Sunni militants will be able to create a functional chemical weapon from the material. The weapons stockpiled at the Al Muthanna complex are old, contaminated...

http://online.wsj.com/articles/sunni-extremists-in-iraq-occupy-saddams-c...

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 14:46 | 4874735 gdpetti
gdpetti's picture

Let's Do The Time Warp Again!!!! I believe this was the same policy we used in Vietnam, right? Wonderful, wonderful, but our PTB do seem to prefer the same script every time don't they? Seems they are not exactly the 'creative' types.

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