Iraq’s Maliki finally gives up and steps aside

Share:

malikiNuri al-Maliki finally bowed to pressure with Iraqand beyond on Thursday and stepped down as prime minister, paving the way for a new coalition that world and regional powers hope can quash a Sunni Islamist insurgency that threatens Baghdad.

Maliki ended eight years of often divisive, sectarian rule and endorsed fellow Shi’ite Haider al-Abadi in a televised speech during which he stood next to his successor. Earlier, a leading figure in the Sunni minority told Reuters he had been promised U.S. help to fight the Islamic State militants.

Though there was no immediate comment from Washington the remarks by the governor of the Sunni heartland province of Anbar, such a move could revive cooperation between Sunni tribes, the Shi’ite-led authorities and U.S. forces that was credited with thwarting al Qaeda in Iraq several years ago.

Ahmed Khalaf al-Dulaimi told Reuters his request, made in meetings with U.S. diplomats and a senior military officer, included air support against the militants who have a tight grip on large parts of his desert province and northwestern Iraq.

Dulaimi said the Americans had promised to help. There was no immediate confirmation from U.S. officials on a day when President Barack Obama said troops planning an evacuation of refugees further north were standing down as U.S. air strikes and supply drops had broken the “siege of Mount Sinjar”.

Governor Dulaimi said in a telephone interview: “Our first goal is the air support. Their technology capability will offer a lot of intelligence information and monitoring of the desert and many things which we are in need of.

“No date was decided but it will be very soon and there will be a presence for the Americans in the western area.”

After its capture of the northern metropolis of Mosul in June, a swift push by the Islamic State to the borders of the autonomous ethnic Kurdish region alarmed Baghdad and last week drew the first U.S. air strikes on Iraq since the withdrawal of American troops in 2011.

U.S. involvement in Anbar is a far more sensitive matter.

The region, sparsely populated and forming much of Iraq’s border with Syria, was deeply anti-American during the U.S. occupation. Tribal leaders and local people saw the replacement of fellow Sunni Saddam Hussein by a U.S.-backed leadership dominated by Iraq’s Shi’ite Muslim majority as a threat and took up arms. Al Qaeda fighters flooded in to join them.

The United States mounted its biggest offensive of the occupation against a variety of Islamist militants in the Anbar city of Falluja, just west of Baghdad. Its soldiers experienced some of their fiercest combat since the Vietnam War.

Eventually, the U.S. military was able to persuade some of its most diehard Sunni opponents to turn against al Qaeda.

The strategy brought a period of calm. But Maliki went on to alienate many Sunnis. His eventual departure followed several days in which he insisted on his right to form a new government based on the results of a parliamentary election in late April.

Maliki resisted months of pressure to step down from Sunnis, Kurds, some fellow Shi’ites, Shi’ite regional power Iran and the United States.

The Islamic State, disowned by al Qaeda as too radical after it took control of large parts of Syria, capitalised on its Syrian territorial gains and sectarian tensions in Iraq to gain control of Falluja and Anbar’s capital Ramadi early this year.

“PROMISE”

It is not clear how much support Dulaimi would have locally for cooperation with the Americans. Elected last year, some in the region have criticised him for working too closely with Maliki rather than defending Sunni interests.

Iraq’s president nominated Abadi, who is seen as a moderate Shi’ite with a decent chance of improving ties with Sunnis.

The Sahwa, the U.S.-funded militia drawn from the country’s Sunni Muslim tribes, were a driving force in fighting al Qaeda from 2007. A U.S. decision to hand over responsibility for the Sahwa to the Shi’ite-dominated government in 2009 alienated them and drove some to join IS.

Abadi is in the sensitive process of trying to form a new government in a country where sectarian tensions are rising; bombings, kidnappings and executions are part of daily life.

On Thursday, a bomb attached to a bus in central Baghdad killed three people and wounded six, police and medics said.

Bloodshed is back at the levels of 2006-2007, the peak of a sectarian civil war.

Abadi faces the challenge of trying to rein in Shi’ite militias accused of kidnapping and killing Sunnis and persuading the once dominant Sunni minority that they will have a bigger share of power.

Dulaimi was especially concerned by the militants’ determination to seize control of Anbar’s Haditha dam: โ€œThe situation in Haditha, where the dam is, is controlled by security forces and tribes. But the problem is how long can they endure the pressure?” said Dulaimi.

“I held several meetings since one month ago with the American embassy and the commander of the central troops all in this regard, and very soon there will be a joint coordination centre and operations in Anbar. They gave a promise.”

Aside from strong momentum built up in the north and control of large parts of the west, the Islamic State has threatened to march on Baghdad.

ARMING THE KURDS

The group, which wants to redraw the map of the Middle East, used tunnels built by Saddam in the 1990s to move its fighters, weapons, ammunition and supplies to towns just south of Baghdad, Iraqi intelligence officials told Reuters.

Unlike Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda, which set its sights on destroying the West, the Islamic State has territorial goals, aims to set up a caliphate and rages against the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 between Britain and France that split the Ottoman empire and carved borders across the Arab lands.

Rough terrain has enabled the militants to evade the army and security forces. Seizing Baghdad would be difficult because of the presence of special forces and thousands of Shi’ite militias who have slowed down the Islamic State elsewhere.

But a foothold just near the capital could make it easier for the IS to carry out suicide bombings, deepen sectarian tensions and destabilise Iraq.

On Thursday, Islamic State militants massed near the town of Qara Tappa, 120 km (75 miles) north of Baghdad, security sources and a local official said, in an apparent bid to broaden their front with Kurdish peshmerga fighters.

The movement around Qara Tappa suggests they are becoming more confident and seeking to grab more territory closer to the capital after stalling in that region.

“The Islamic State is massing its militants near Qara Tappa,” said one of the security sources. “It seems they are going to broaden their front with the Kurdish fighters.”

It is not just superior firepower seized from Iraqi soldiers who fled its advance that gives the group an edge over enemies. It has an array of economic weapons as well – the massive Mosul dam, five oil fields, wheat crops and cash from captured banks.

Islamic State fighters staged a bank robbery in the recently conquered town of Jalawla, northeast of Baghdad, on Thursday, witnesses said.

While pressing for more territory, Islamic State fighters use fear and intimidation to tighten their grip on towns and cities they control and impose their radical view of Islam.

With ethnic Kurdish peshmerga forces pushed back on the defensive by the Islamic State this month, France has joined the United States in supplying what it called “sophisticated arms” to the regional militia and EU foreign ministers will break summer holidays to discuss the crisis on Friday.

WOMEN DOCTORS, YAZIDIS

In Mosul, the militants have blown up or bulldozed Shi’ite mosques and shrines, destroyed statues of poets which they deem un-Islamic and forced women to veil.

On Thursday, women doctors in Mosul said they faced the Islamic State’s wrath.

โ€œOne of them is hitting any girl (doctor, nurse or a visitor) on her head as a warning to her especially after the period they gave for starting the application of scarf wearing,” said a female doctor.

“They are intimidating us, threatening us with killing and destroying our houses. Because of that bad treatment I decided to sit in my house and not to go to the hospital, but still feeling afraid as I donโ€™t know what they will do.”

In Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, Islamic State militants shot dead four policemen in a public area – men who were on a hit list – said security sources and witnesses.

They also confiscated 20 houses from security personnel and wrote “Property of the Islamic State” on the walls.

In addition to arming the peshmerga and, in the case of Washington, bombing militant positions, Western powers have been trying to help aid agencies drop supplies and provide refuge for tens of thousands of people, many of them from non-Sunni communities, who have fled attacks by the Islamic State.

The White House had said the United States and its allies were considering setting up airlifts and safe land corridors to rescue people, including many from the Yazidi sect stranded on the arid heights of Mount Sinjar near the Syrian border.

But a U.S. assessment team sent to Mount Sinjar on Wednesday found the situation better than expected, and Obama said further evacuation or airdrops were unlikely.

Reuters

Share:

Comments

65 responses to “Iraq’s Maliki finally gives up and steps aside”

  1. The real lebanese Avatar
    The real lebanese

    Long awaited. Must’ve finally realized he had half his power remaining and the fight hadn’t even started. Might as well leave someone else with this mess.

    1. MekensehParty Avatar
      MekensehParty

      We know who will be fixing the mess… Again.
      But at least Iraq is now out of the “resistance axis” and I don’t mind paying for that.
      +1 Obama? Or still refusing to give him credit?

      1. The real lebanese Avatar
        The real lebanese

        Iraq isnt out. The replacement is from the same party ๐Ÿ™ and not much Obama has done to recieve credit. Have him set up a coalition of both Shiites and Sunnis to fight IS and I’ll give him some. Put the chances of him putting time in on that instead of playing golf are slim.

        1. MekensehParty Avatar
          MekensehParty

          All of this is his making. His calm maneuvering. Maliki was ready to burn Iraq and the flames were all around Baghdad. A Sunni extremist army against a Shia extremist army. How much do you think Baghdad would have lasted without the “300” Spartans that landed in June with a fleet of drones above them? How long would the Kurds have lasted recently? They wanted independence? hah! It took us 4 hits to halt the advance of IS on Irbil… which again was more of a message than real strikes as we do not want to alienate Sunnis that are ready to switch sides/reposition themselves in the next phase.
          At the same time he put the heat on all the Iraqi leaders and made them face the truth: come to an agreement, a unity government or burn.
          Facing reality they came to an agreement.
          And those are the immediate results. There are future benefits.
          The same “deal” can and will apply to Syria who is facing the same threat. Is it a coincidence that we’re finally getting reports of a schism inside the Alawite community in Syria, and the profound welcoming it got from Sunnis?
          The ultimate victory is that now the US is passing to phase 3 of its war on terror: support the locals getting rid of their own devils.
          I wish I was planning all this while playing golf…

          1. The real lebanese Avatar
            The real lebanese

            Obama didnt plan this though. As for the American airstrikes, that comes from foreign pressure to avoid Iraq becoming another Syria (too late?).

          2. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            If it’s not Obama then it can only be the Holy Spirit…

          3. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            (stretching a little there … hehehehe)

          4. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            Only a miracle brought these animals together.

          5. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            You are obviously dreaming that obama had anything to do with this. In fact obama kept supplying maliki with arms all throughout the year to assist maliki in the massacre of innocent demonstrators.
            It took the near disintegration of Iraq before maliki’s supporters like sistani and iran, who were the true instigator of maliki’s removal, decided it was better to dump him than to fight another war on a different front. They can’t fight in Syria and Iraq simultaneously, it would stretch the shabiha and hezbsatan too much.
            Stop taking credit for a problem you created in the first place and kept supporting right up until the last minute.
            Malikiโ€™s sectarian regime in Iraq (oops โ€“ wasnโ€™t this Assad- and
            Iran-aligned regime installed by a US imperialist invasion?) will continue but under a different face though same sectarian hatred.

          6. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            If you want to keep inventing things and throwing them in the conversation then let’s not have one. Speak facts if you want to be taken seriously or go back to your boyfriend’s training so that he kicks Farq’s ass… (my money’s on him)
            Your accusations are false. We armed the Iraqi military under contracts, we never armed any militia in Iraq on this or that side. In fact we refused to deliver airplanes to Maliki recently because we knew what he was going to do with them. When he came months ago asking for helicopters we sent him back empty handed without even a promise. Those are facts.
            Sistani and Iran saw the fanatics coming on them and they ran to the US asking for mediation. Iran gave up on Maliki only the past week while the US has been calling for his removal months ago. Those are facts.
            People in Iraq know who they owe this government to, sunnis, shia, kurds and all the others know very well who put the pressures and where to save Iraq and again it’s not you or Iran.
            as for the last part, it’s only wishful thinking, the same wishful thinking of may muslims like you who want to see Iraq in a civil war.
            Those are facts!

          7. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Have to say that Obama held up against the fanatics in Congress as well.
            But the ‘time lags’ have been very risky.

          8. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            “Feb 2014

            Brett McGurk, deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran,
            told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that because the administration
            feels โ€œvital US interests are at stake in Iraq,โ€ it is ready to send
            Baghdad new Boeing-made Apache attack helicopters, hundreds more
            Lockheed Martin-made Hellfire missiles and more than 50 new
            surveillance drone aircraft. ”

            Lol you sent him empty handed when he came asking for helicopters?
            And I love how you defend arming him by using “military contracts” as your excuse.
            Btw nowhere did i say it was militias, so please stop trying to twist the facts to suit your agenda.

            “While the State Department official touted the arms shipments and the
            Obama administrationโ€™s diplomatic efforts to help boost Iraqโ€™s Shia-led
            government, the panelโ€™s GOP chairman said more must be done — including
            by embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.”

            Yes I can see how you were calling for his removal before anyone else was, by sending him helicopters, hellfire missiles and drones and then telling him he should do “more”.

            http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140205/DEFREG02/302050025/US-Defends-Sales-Hellfire-Missiles-Apaches-Iraq

          9. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            Only a tiny percentage of all this has been delivered and all under the condition of a unity government.
            Again we are arming the Iraqi army and not Maliki’s government.
            The people hunting sunnis in Iraq are shia militias and we have not armed any militia. The Iraqi army is not hunting people down, the latest stories is that they are being hunted by your father and brother.
            Stop contradicting what the whole world knows. US and Maliki are not friends and we have warned him and many others that we do not and will not stand with him if he leads the country to a civil war. Stop wasting your breath trying to prove what cannot be proven.

          10. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            “Only a tiny percentage of all this has been delivered and all under the condition of a unity government.”

            Lol first you claim he was sent back “empty handed” and then when i prove you wrong, you claim only “a tiny percentage” was delivered.

            “Again we are arming the Iraqi army and not Maliki’s government. ”

            LMFAO so who was controlling this “Iraqi army” you speak of? A government from mars or “Maliki’s government”??

            “The people hunting sunnis in Iraq are shia militias and we have not armed any militia.”

            “In April 2014, Reuters reported that in order to combat the growing Sunni insurgency in Iraq, Prime Minister al-Maliki planned to deploy militias in a new security force, โ€œSons of Iraq,โ€ consisting of the Shia militias Asaโ€™ib Ahl al-Haqq, Badr Brigades, and Kitaโ€™ib Hezbollah.

            Of these, Asaโ€™ib is the strongest, according to a government source.
            Al-Maliki has incorporated Asaโ€™ib fighters into both army
            and police
            forces, he said.”

            http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/31/iraq-pro-government-militias-trail-death

            Tell me again, who were you providing that “tiny percentage” worth BILLIONS of dollars of arms to?

          11. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Kurds. ๐Ÿ˜‰

          12. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            He was sent back empty handed. Did we stop supplying the Iraqi army of all kind of weapons? No and I never said that. Did we stop supplying highly lethal weapons to the army when we saw that they will be used by Maliki in his civil war? A million time yes and the people of Iraq know this very well, what you Barabie want to believe matters little. We’ve put together an alliance of Sunnis, Shias and Kurds to fight your caliph’s ass, we saved Iraq again by uniting its people against our common enemy and now have the Arabs fighting al Qaeda and its splinter IS for us. So yeah, I understand why you refuse to believe that, after all this is our ultimate victory and you and bin laden’s ultimate defeat.

          13. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            Your money is on whom?

          14. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            David with the sling, and the medium-calibre stone, I think he said. ๐Ÿ˜‰

            Interesting ‘bit’ from Austalia ….
            “The employee, who asked that his name not be used due to the way authorities might interpret his political views, sports a neat beard, and says he is โ€œ23 or 24.โ€
            He is also one of the last members of his family still in Lebanon. The rest are now living in Australia with a large community of Lebanese from the northern city of Tripoli and the surrounding areas.
            Outside his shop, he has posted the Islamist emblem once popular with Osama bin Laden. The symbol, called the stamp of the Prophet, has most recently been adopted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS).
            โ€œWhen I see people with this stamp, I feel at ease,โ€ he said.
            โ€œAll of my family is in Australia and I want to go there … But I also want to go to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria,โ€ he told The Daily Star.”

          15. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            what sling and medium calibre stone?

          16. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            I forgot … need to tell you ‘David & Goliath’ story sometime … it’s in another book. Maybe too late … hmmmm ….

          17. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            How is it from Australia when it says “He is also one of the last members of his family still Lebanon”?

          18. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            That is only part of the whole story … thing …

          19. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            Your boyfriend for the simple reason that Farq’s balls are smaller than a pea while your boyfriend’s balls must be as big as an apple after all this time spent with you in total chastity.

          20. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu …. I’m rolling out now ….

          21. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            … and scene ๐Ÿ™‚

          22. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
            Maborlz Ez-Hari

            The broomstick just stuck it into my friend Barabie, im trying not to smile buts thats poker. I hate to admit but alls fair in love and war. (Metaphorically)

          23. Anti ISIS Avatar
            Anti ISIS

            Of course You would know the size of my balls. After all, you do spend enough time gaggle on them. But come on, as small as a pea.

          24. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            You’re right I should clarify
            Both of them total the size of one pea
            On a side note: How scared are you of barabie’s bf? Did you see his muscles on the pic? What are going to be your weapons of choice? Don’t say balls, he has bigger ones that’s established. How about a suicide vest? Clever huh. Once you’re in the room together you can detonate it and tell him: faja’tak mou?

          25. Anti ISIS Avatar
            Anti ISIS

            On my way you little rat, Tell steroid junky to get ready with his 20 friends.

          26. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            Wow unless farqed up is an old woman, he didn’t show up. Time wasting caveman.

          27. Anti ISIS Avatar
            Anti ISIS

            How convenient, not showing up then lying and saying I didn’t show. Like I have always said about you little rat, big behind a computer only. Don’t waste my time anymore shit breath. Do what you do best, legs up in the air while you squeal like a pig.

        2. $89733098 Avatar
          $89733098

          I agree that iraq isn’t out. There’s no way iran would’ve agreed to replacing maliki if that was the case.
          The old broom has too much dust between his ears.

  2. $89733098 Avatar
    $89733098

    “Whose the guy that’s on the run? Nouri K Al Malaki
    Burned his bridges, one by one -Nouri K Al Malaki
    He acted like a looney
    When he wouldn’t hire a Sunni
    Wouldn’t send his guys out shootin’
    When the ISIS thugs were lootin’
    Told our soldiers ” Take a hike”
    Now he knows what it is like
    On his own for all to see – Nouri K Al Malaki”

    1. MekensehParty Avatar
      MekensehParty

      Wait, you forgot to add that the US is giving him a mansion built on top of the White House
      Or did your realize how stupid and unrealistic your past comments on the subject were?

      1. $89733098 Avatar
        $89733098

        The only thing stupid and unrealistic is believing the yanks are willing to spend ANY money protecting the average Iraqi citizen.
        As for giving him a mansion, well you certainly gave him access to mansions in Iraq.
        Not forgetting you rushed him weapons just last month to help him stay in power.
        Stop disowning the problem you created and maintained for 8 years!
        If you had come here and admitted your past mistakes then you would be taken more seriously but obviously you aren’t willing to own up to the mistakes the US has made and does make.

        1. 5thDrawer Avatar
          5thDrawer

          Most Yanks probably aren’t willing to spend a dime on the damn place.
          But the politicians do. And have – although not always in the way you would like it to be, or for the reasons you wish. Or even with any ‘good’ reasoning sometimes. I suppose if many years ago they had just gone in only with food baskets and water bottles they would have been hugged to death by the numerous Tribes who enjoy stocking up their own little villages.

        2. MekensehParty Avatar
          MekensehParty

          It wasn’t you ahlou al sunna who went to the aid of the Yazidis last I checked. It wasn’t you descendants of Mohamed who forced assad to give up his chemical weapons that he used on his own people (or Saddam’s). Nope quite the contrary, you have proved to be the scum of the scum, the aggressors, the killers, the beheaders, the crucifiers… so much blood on your dirty hands that the crimes of others look so minuscule.
          If you don’t think and admit that the problem is from you, and was there, that you created it and maintained it for decades if not centuries then you will remain exactly where you are, in the trash bin of history.
          I do own up to the mistakes of the US. We put our rapers in jail. We put our criminals in jail… Do you own up to the mistakes of your people? Never! Instead you divinize them and put them as your leaders.
          This is why dear Barabie you earned unequivocally the title of “Hypocrit”!

          1. sweetvirgo Avatar
            sweetvirgo

            Let me ask you something….in your personal opinion do you think that Saddam should have remained president of Iraq?? Just curious

          2. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            Absolutely not
            Iraq is way better off, even today
            for the simple reason: Time gained.
            All of this that you see today would have happened one way or another in Iraq. The Shia majority was waiting for any opportunity (and some say they created the opportunity) to get rid of Saddam and name a Shia dictator in his place who would in turn lead the country to a civil war in case he didn’t come riding the wave of such a civil war.
            Iraq’s long struggle is not over but it crossed a long and inevitable chunk of this transformation.

          3. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            And if all the Mullah’s are not mulling over this sad fact – as the RC Church had to about some small indiscretions – you are correct. It won’t change.
            (please add ‘e’ to hypocrite ๐Ÿ˜‰

          4. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            I did notice the missing E but that old broom obviously isn’t educated enough because he has made similar mistakes in the past, which just proves how lacking he is in intelligence.

          5. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Oh, that doesn’t prove it … the ‘auto correct’ here isn’t perfect either. :-)))

          6. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            No you are right, one E doesn’t but i did say he has made similar mistakes in the past.

          7. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            It’s good that this typo gave you some life and the courage to reply because you have nothing to say to the rest…

          8. $89733098 Avatar
            $89733098

            LMFAO my people?
            pray do tell who my people are.
            Difference between you and i is that i don’t defend a certain group and claim that that group is killing others in the name of freedom, democracy and aid to the poor and downtrodden.
            As long as you defend the biggest killers on this planet you will be nothing but a terrorist enabler and defender.
            It is you who installed that “shia dictator” and it is you who protected and enabled that “shia dictator” to massacre innocent Iraqis, just like you protect and enable the heinous saudi regime and the equally heinous israeli regime!
            Enough of your meddling in the world, enough of your terrorism, enough of your BS!!

          9. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            Yeah, the Mosul people, the adepts of Al Zawahiri and Mulla Omar.
            The spiritual sons and daughters of Bin Laden – your people!!!
            Of course you defend these scums, you never stopped.
            We are the first to send aid anywhere in the world while you send your fanatic ideas to kill anywhere in the world.
            We haven’t installed a dictator in years. It was free and fair elections, something you are certainly not familiar with. You keep talking about the Shia killing Sunnis yet you never mention the suicide cars driven by Sunnis into Mosques, markets or anywhere where Shia gather. Keep saying you “don’t defend a certain group” maybe the deaf will believe you one day.
            We stopped meddling with the world and left you to run your own countries and where did that lead? Bloody revolutions, genocides, gas bombs, beheadings and more killing than ever. Who’s BSsing? Look in the mirror.

          10. TheUSequalsTheIS Avatar
            TheUSequalsTheIS

            w lisa ma 5alasty?

          11. TheUSequalsTheIS Avatar
            TheUSequalsTheIS

            was saddam a shia?

          12. TheUSequalsTheIS Avatar
            TheUSequalsTheIS

            la 7aly 3am bs2al 7aly ma32oul inti majnoune b hal 2aaaaaaaad????? 3njad chou hal mas5ara????

    2. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Wow. Better than libnan1’s poetry … for sure. :-))

  3. nagy_michael2 Avatar
    nagy_michael2

    he finally read my blog and decided to quit. now i hope you go away somewhere on an ISIS island where the sun don’t shine..

  4. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
    Maborlz Ez-Hari

    Did a leader just step aside? Did he just set a new precedence in the middle east? Amazing.

    1. MekensehParty Avatar
      MekensehParty

      I’d rather prefer that you name Sleiman as the first Arab leader to finish his term and leave without a fuss.
      But yes, Maliki’s exit is definitely a Historic moment in favor of the people and a good reason to keep hope alive in this forsaken region.

      1. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
        Maborlz Ez-Hari

        I was only comparing apples with apples.

    2. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Happened in Tunisia … rather quickly in fact. Maybe too quickly … not enough died before.
      But I hear they are trying to make up for it ….
      (barabie says that is ‘precedent’ …) ๐Ÿ˜‰

      1. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
        Maborlz Ez-Hari

        I thought tunisia was african.

        1. 5thDrawer Avatar
          5thDrawer

          Some claim it is ‘Muslim’. As we all know, there ARE no borders in those lands. :-))) Get with the programme, Marbolz … ๐Ÿ˜‰

          1. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
            Maborlz Ez-Hari

            Apologies

  5. wargame1 Avatar

    Another blow back for Iran!! They helped USA in invading Iraq and got their lackey Maliki but now they are losing him. They are trying to fix another sectarian Shia scum.

  6. At least, he stepped down as leader of the majority Shias in Iraq. Contrast this to Assad as the leader of the Aliwi minority in Syria who hasn’t stepped down at all costs.

  7. In northern Iraq, gunmen from the group “Islamic state” attacked the village of Yezidis Kocho and destroyed about 80 people, hundreds of women abducted into slavery

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Women & girls … they didn’t want males … not sure where the young boys are … the fathers are dead. No good report on outcome ….

      1. Please 5thDrawer check me if i’m spamming

        1. 5thDrawer Avatar
          5thDrawer

          ?? Not spam … that … I didn’t see an advert in it.

          1. thank You

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *