The Common Ills: Nouri refuses to take the gold watch

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Nouri refuses to take the gold watch

Everyone appears to know Nouri's leaving except for Nouri.

Iraq's outgoing prime minister tossed out some sop about the military not being politicized -- after he spent the last four years politicizing it -- and tea leaf readers of the press told us this meant he was stepping down.

Maybe or maybe not.

He appears caught in some seven stages of grief exclusive to tyrants and despots who never see the end coming.

Today, he delivered his weekly address on state TV.

Al Jazeera reports:

In his weekly televised address, Maliki on Wednesday said the appointment of Haider al-Abadi to replace him as prime minister was a "violation" of the constitution and "had no value".
"I confirm that the government will continue and there will not be a replacement for it without a decision from the federal court," Maliki said.
Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Iraq, said Maliki used his weekly address to justify why he is clinging to power.

He refuses to leave quietly. Yet again, Nouri's going to screw with Iraq's fate because he's never put the country's needs ahead of his own. No doubt, the thought of a real job terrifies him and what will become of his pampered and delicate son if Nouri can't continue to steal the oil money and raise junior in the life he and the other Malikis have become accustomed to?

National Iraqi News Agency notes:

A member of the Ahrar bloc, Mushriq Naji described the letters and statements of Maliki's bloc / state of law /, as "hysterical and is disciplined and far from political reality and constitution.
Naji, former head of the Ahrar parliamentary bloc, said in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA/ : "The Constitution is clear and explicit in the President's step by assigning the candidate of the largest parliamentary bloc to form a new government, and the National Alliance is the largest bloc, which had been announced that before the first session in a press conference. "
He added: "The decision of the Federal Court, did not say that the state of law is the largest parliamentary bloc, but it explained the concept of the biggest bloc."

Mushriq Naji is a member of cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr's group.

Nouri's always controlled the federal court but that's never been enough. Even getting rulings he wanted left Nouri still struggling with the opinions themselves, lying to 'improve' on what the judges actually said in the opinions backing up the rulings.

As upsetting as his remarks today are, AP adds more troubling news, "Tanks and Humvees were positioned on Baghdad bridges and at major intersections on Wednesday, with security personnel more visible than usual." AFP's report includes:

“Al Maliki politically is finished,” said Haider Al Khoei, an associate fellow at the Chatham House think-tank. “I just can’t see him staying in terms of the legal, democratic framework.”

But he has “a vast security network - he has intelligence men, security officers” who are “certainly not loyal to the state of Iraq. They’re there because they owe their jobs and their livelihoods to Al Maliki.”

“So I never rule out Al Maliki - he’s been a survivor, he’s proved himself time and time again,” said Al Khoei.

For Nouri, it's always about his needs only. The needs of Iraq and the Iraqi people don't even make Nouri's top ten.

Related news? All Iraq News notes, "About 130 American military advisers have arrived in Iraq to help with its humanitarian aid in north area of the country, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a press statement."

The following community sites -- plus NPR, PBS, McClatchy, The Diane Rehm Show and Antiwar.com -- updated: