And it was going so well until Joe Biden called. Moments ago the PM who refuses to hand in his resignation spoke to the nation in a TV address. In short: he isn't going anywhere.
From Bloomberg:
- MALIKI SAYS AL-ABADI NOMINATION IS LEGALLLY WORTHLESS
- MALIKI SAYS IRAQ FACES A SERIOUS CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATION
- MALIKI SAYS U.S. STATE DEPT. TOOK SIDE OF THOSE VIOLATING LAW
- MALIKI SAYS NO ONE BUT HIM HAS RIGHT TO REPRESENT STATE, DAWA
- MALIKI SAY PEOPLE, SECURITY FORCES ARE IN A HOLY BATTLE
And the punchline:
- IRAQ'S MALIKI SAYS "WE WILL FIX MISTAKE" AFTER UNCONSTITUTIONAL NOMINATION OF NEW PM
And from Al Arabiya:
#BreakingNews [5]: Iraqi PM Maliki accuses U.S. of helping with the violation of Iraq's constitution
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 11, 2014 [6]
#BreakingNews [5]: #Iraq [7] PM Maliki says he cannot accept any violation of the constitution
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 11, 2014 [8]
In short, another US foreign intervention success story (and yes, Obama is to thank for this latest crisis because as the Daily Beast reports [9], the current PM is effectively yet another US puppet. Just like Maliki was until the US decided it no longer had any use for him).
Oh well, time for more phone calls, hash tags, red lines and humanitarian bombings.