Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Malaki, has his back against the wall. His replacement has just been named by the president of Iraq. The candidate is Haidar al-Abadi, a former Maliki lieutenant who was named by President Fouad Masoum to replace him. Reuter’s reports:
(Reuters – By Michael Georgy and Ahmed Rasheed, 8/11/2014) – Iraq’s president named a new prime minister to end Nuri al-Maliki’s eight-year rule on Monday, but the veteran leader refused to go after deploying militias and special forces on the streets, creating a dangerous political showdown in Baghdad. … Maliki said in a televised speech the president’s decision to name a replacement for him was a “dangerous violation” of the constitution and, flanked by political allies, he vowed “we will fix the mistake.” Maliki’s son-in-law, Hussein al-Maliki, called the move “illegal” and said it would be overturned in court. “We will not stay silent,” he said. Washington delivered a stern warning to Maliki not to “stir the waters” by using force to cling to power. (Read more).
It seems many world leaders (including Obama) believe that replacing Nouri al-Malaki will lead to the end of conflict with the Islamic State. I wonder if Caliph Ibrahim will be willing to exchange his sword for the ballot box?
Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki is Shia (as is designee Haidar al-Abadi). Shias are the majority sect of Islam in Iraq (60%). When Saddam Hussein was President of Iraq (Hussein was Sunni), he persecuted Shias without mercy. Since Malaki assumed office, he has favored Shias over Sunnis thereby insuring that Sunnis never gain meaningful power in his government. For some time, key United States political figures have called for the Iraqi parliament to remove al-Malaki in favor of a “less divisive and more unifying figure.” The prime minister designee, Haidar al-Abadi, is presumably that “unifying figure.”
Sunni Arab leaders in the Middle East have long advocated the removal of Malaki as a prerequisite to an end to the sectarian conflict in Iraq, and have blamed Malaki’s exclusionary government as the primary reason for the conflict. Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite lawmaker, said the Islamic State is taking advantage of “the favorable political landscape of sectarianism” and described the insurgency as “an uprising of the oppressed.”
President Obama has likewise insisted upon Malaki’s stepping down as prime minister so that a “more inclusive” government may be formed. The Wall Street Journal (8/11/2014) quotes Obama:
Mr. Obama congratulated Mr. Abadi [prime minister designee] in a brief statement, pledging to work with a new and more inclusive government in Iraq and urging the newly designated prime minister to move quickly to form a cabinet. “The United States stands ready to support a government that addresses the needs and grievances of all Iraqi people,” Mr. Obama said from Martha’s Vineyard, where he is vacationing this week. “We’re also ready to work with other countries in the region to deal with the humanitarian crises and counterterrorism challenge in Iraq. Mobilizing that support will be easier once this new government is in place.” (Read more).
I wonder if Caliph Ibrahim will remove his forces from Iraq and Syria once Malaki resigns? Do you think the Caliph will lay down his sword and declare loyalty to Shia Prime Minister (designee) Abadi? Perhaps even apologize for the brutality of the mujahadeen? Do you think the Caliph credits Malaki’s exclusionary policies for the rise of his army of “oppressed” warriors? Or the success of his jihad, or his bold declaration of the Islamic State?
Here is the latest from Reuters on the Islamic State:
Islamic State carves jihadist hub in heart of Middle East
(By Samia Nakhoul, 8/12/14) The jihadist army, whose ambition for a cross-border caliphate between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers was not initially taken seriously by their opponents, is now brimming with confidence, emboldened by blood and treasure.
The warriors of the new caliphate are exploiting sectarian and tribal faultlines in Arab society, petrifying communities into submission and exploiting the reluctance of Washington and the West to intervene more robustly in the civil war in Syria. Read more.
The photo is from twitter (@Fadel_alHadidi) taken as a screenshot from a youtube clip. Professes to be an ISIS militant marrying a 7-year old non-Muslim girl in occupied minority district of Syria
As I read what is happening in the news these days, it is as if there are two different worlds in Iraq and neither seems aware of the other’s actions. On the one hand, the Islamic State is repeating the acts of brutality that characterizes Islam’s history since the time of Muhammad. Fear is its primary objective, at least until the captives have submitted to Islam. Fear is the by-product of the many images, videos that have spawned the Internet of the actions of the Islamic State from the branding of the homes and businesses of Christians with the Arabic letter “n” (the first letter of “Nazarenes,” follower of Jesus of Nazareth), to the decapitation of children and mounting of their heads on sticks, the sexual enslavement of women and children, or the crucifixion of the men.
On the other hand, we have the politicians, the world leaders, and all they do is talk, and talk. It is as if talking keeps them from seeing the images that the world sees; and as long as they talk, they are doing something. An example is the video that recently posted on YouTube of the female leader of the Yazidis who passionately confronted the Iraqi parliament’s inaction with the specific facts of her people’s persecution, murder, rape, and enslavement by the Islamic State. I could not believe that many of the politicians tried to silence her as if she were out-of-order by telling them of the devastation! I encourage you to watch the video if you have not. Video here. It is amazing to me that in this politically correct world we live in, politicians actually believe that a more “inclusive” prime minister will stop the Islamic State. The Islamic State is not about politics or about sectarian divides. They are about dominion – first of Iraq and Syria, and then the world. Revelation 13:7-8 NASB. With each victory (combined with the weak, irrelevant actions of world leaders), the fulfillment of bible prophecies become more likely.
I don’t think the Caliph will be laying his sword down anytime soon.
Jesus come quickly.
Blessings.
Jack
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