The White House installed him last fall but how long can they protect him?
The question becomes time-sensitive as Asharq Al-Awsat reports:
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi is facing a “mutiny” from within Shi’ite circles in the country over his recent crackdown on government corruption, an informed source said on Saturday.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat via telephone, the source—a high-level Shi’ite politician who requested anonymity—said that “moves, though unofficial, are being made in secret” against Abadi in response to recent reforms he enacted in August.
“The struggle is within the Shi’ite camp, among its different political and religious lines, and is a struggle for influence, power, and money,” the source said.
He's lost Nouri al-Maliki (really never had Nouri's support) and he's lost Ayad Allawi.
Non-publicly, he's lost Ammar al-Hakim -- though the US State Dept continues to deny that reality. (It's true. Accept it.) Rumors are say he's lost Moqtada al-Sadr.
That would be no real surprise.
Moqtada's not been impressed with Haider's efforts.
He offered public support for them at one time only to see Haider go wobbly.
He likely now regrets that support.
Haider's in trouble.
And the deals he's making only cause him more trouble.
Ibrahim al-Jaafari, for example, is said to be furious over the Russian deal announced this weekend.
Not just because, on Friday, Ibrahim was insisting the deal was nothing but baseless rumors.
June 19, 2014, US President Barack Obama insisted that the only answer to Iraq's crises was a political solution. Over a year later, with no work on said political solution, Barack's puppet is in danger of being tossed out.
Operation Inherent Failure is just one long embarrassment for Barack and if Haider gets tossed, it's going to be even worse.
I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
-- "Hejira," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album of the same name
The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4497.
New content at Third is supposed to go up tomorrow morning. (Most is finished two pieces are in draft form and need to be smoothed out.) Mike's "Idiot of the week" went up earlier.