Comments on: Report: Iraqi factions planning to replace Maliki

By: Hot Air » Blog Archive » Saudi intel official to ABC News: We’ll kick Al Qaeda’s ass in Anbar

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:20:12 +0000

[...] Abdul Mahdi is no random politician. He’s a member of SCIRI, the Shiite party that rivals Maliki’s, and was almost named prime minister earlier this year. He might yet get his chance — he’s been named as Maliki’s likely successor if the inchoate coalition between SCIRI and the major Sunni and Kurdish parties comes together. Their goal is to create a majority in parliament that excludes al-Sadr’s party; that way the prime minister, whoever he is, can attack the Mahdi army without fear of the government being toppled by al-Sadr’s MPs withdrawing their support. If it does come together, it remains to be seen whether they’ll give Maliki a chance to move on al-Sadr before replacing him or whether they’ll pick a new PM right out of the gate. There’s also a question of whether Ayatollah Sistani, who advocates Shiite unity, would bless the prospect of a Shiite prime minister going after the Mahdi army in earnest. [...]

By: The Political Pit Bull

The Political Pit Bull — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:58:52 +0000

Iraqi PM al-Maliki To Be Ousted?…

Maybe. Major partners in Iraq’s governing coalition are in behind-the-scenes talks to oust Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki amid discontent over his failure to quell raging violence, according to lawmakers involved. The talks are aimed at forming a new p…

By: Ace of Spades HQ

Ace of Spades HQ — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:06:15 +0000

Al-Maliki To Be Replaced By Anti-Sadrist Premeir?…

Rumors are swirling. For a long time there have been noises about replacing Maliki — violently, possibly, even by a US-connived coup. Things seem to be coming to a head, but perhaps not unlawfully: Major partners in Iraqs governing coalition……

By: def Sparse(Matrix): » Blog Archive » Hope in Iraq?

def Sparse(Matrix): » Blog Archive » Hope in Iraq? — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:49:34 +0000

[...] Via AP at HotAir, the more rational Iraqis are orchestrating a potentially positive change in the leadership of the Iraqi government. BAGHDAD, Iraq – Major partners in Iraq’s governing coalition are in behind-the-scenes talks to oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki amid discontent over his failure to quell raging violence, according to lawmakers involved. [...]

By: ptolemy

ptolemy — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:09:01 +0000

The sooner, the better.

By: honora

honora — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:05:17 +0000

My husband is a physician and is involved in international relief efforts on and off. He has been talking with colleagues in Lebanon who tell him that a looming problem is that just about all the health care professionals have left Iraq, along with most of the upper/middle class.

The question to me is not if Malaki falls, but when. I don’t know if it really matters as the government in Baghdad is pretty irrelevant to the situation on the ground.

Why don’t we hear about how many sunni bad guys we kill?

Well if you believe the ISG, the Pentagon has gone Westmoreland on us–on one given day this year, reported 70 incidents of violence when the actual field tally was over 1000. Also, most of the sunni bad guys are being killed by shiite bad guys (militias). I don’t want to think about how we would know that info.

By: damnum absque injuria

damnum absque injuria — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:30:22 +0000

Regime Change for Iraq?…

Allah and the Captain, it’s beginning to look like Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s days may be numbered. I knew the guy was in trouble when President Bush publicly praised him for doing “a heckuva job” in being “th…

By: Mike O

Mike O — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:24:08 +0000

Tony737, you have to ask? Any semblence of success over there is not within the desired news ange of the Imperial News media.

By: Tony737

Tony737 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:06:28 +0000

We should’ve let the Army finish the job when we went up against the Mooks. Our guys kicked their asses all over the place. Anybody remember the graveyard battle? It was all body count for the Mookies. Time for round two.

I was talkin’ to a dude on my plane last night who just got back from Baghdad (gave him a free beer) and he was tellin’ me that our guys are stackin’ up the sunni terrorists over there, but ya never hear about it on the news.

But we did hear about it when we fought the the Mooks. Why don’t we hear about how many sunni bad guys we kill?

By: “7.62mm Justice” » Good News?

“7.62mm Justice” » Good News? — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:36:47 +0000

[...] Hot Air [...]

By: Bill's Bites

Bill's Bites — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:54:26 +0000

Bye-bye Maliki?…

I wish the source for this was something other than AP, but maybe it’s cause for hope. If al-Maliki isn’t on the way out it’s past time for our government to help him be on the way out, even if it means W needs to ask his buddy Vladimir for some “p…

By: bdfaith

bdfaith — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:47:38 +0000

Your link to the CQ post is kerried up. It should be http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/008673.php

By: Iblis

Iblis — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:03:17 +0000

I want to BELIEVE

By: pocomoco

pocomoco — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:43:32 +0000

“We know what’s going on and we will sabotage it,”

My gosh, it didn’t take them very long to learn and emulate the U.S. Congress.

To paraphrase Churchill: Democracy is a bad form of goverment, but all other forms are worse.

By: JustTruth101

JustTruth101 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:34:14 +0000

Please pardon my ignorance…what does this mean for our soldiers? What are the possible/most likely outcomes regarding the safety of our troops and violence directed at them?

By: thedecider

thedecider — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:32:47 +0000

So it seems they’re going to divy up the country into three provinces with no unifying leader. How did this country come together in the first place? Oh yeah, Saddam. It was a good idea to get rid of Saddam and his awful offspring, but it looks like we need a unifying leader at the helm to bring the major factions together and we don’t yet have it. Perhaps Maliki isn’t the right man – though democratically elected. You know, put freakin’ Sadr at the helm. If that doesn’t sufficiently scare the hell out of them – to start thinking about unifying their damn country – then what will?

By: Stephen M

Stephen M — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:18:56 +0000

Or, one might read the General thusly:

A. Right now, I have to believe that’s the case. ¶ There can be no solution to Iraq’s problems without tackling the militias. And this has to happen soon. We had a chance to tackle the militias in ‘04 [after a U.S. crackdown against the Mahdi Army], but then people were so happy Moqtada al-Sadr agreed to join the political process that they never forced his militia to disarm.

Keep in mind the prior q&a:

Q. With the militias — is there any kinetic component to dealing with them, or is it all political? A. At this stage right now, it is political. But that could change.

By: Pablo

Pablo — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:10:26 +0000

They’re right, of course. I liked Maliki coming in, and I thought he had what it’s going to take to straighten this mess out and that he was planning to do it.

Best phrase in the story:

~~non-Sadrist Shiites have had enough.~~

No matter how distasteful we find the situation in Baghdad, these people are living in it. I think the grand question from the get go has been when the survival instinct would draw Iraq and its people to act in their own best interest. This senseless slaughter isn’t it, by any measure.

I hope they’ve had enough. It’s about time.

By: omegaram

omegaram — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 03:49:17 +0000

Interesting rumor. Change would be a good thing, but perhaps the real player in this drama is not anyone in Iraq, but in Iran. Iran is supporting the conflict in Iraq to their advantage. Take our their proxy and progress is made.