Green Zone surrounded by tanks in suspected coup

[Simfan34]

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So says my friend, who runs a website covering the region.

[Lief 🗽]

Mainstream news is reporting this as well.

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https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/498594353963884544

[Simfan34]

The original source, AFP, says the tanks are there, and that al Maliki has rejected the deadline for the formation of a new government.

http://mobile.news.com.au/world/troops-surround-baghdad-green-zone-as-outgoing-prime-minister-maliki-appears-to-cling-to-power/story-fndir2ev-1227020033404

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

How much of the military does parliament have control of?

[Antonio the Sixth]

So a self-coup?

[Simfan34]

So a self-coup?

It appears so. This will not make things any better. It will greatly inflame tensions and give ISIS more fuel.

[H. Ross Peron]

F*** Maliki.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yeah, let's have Al Maliki assassinated please.

[Simfan34]

Nouri al-Maliki replaced Saddam Hussein. Saddam, as we all know, ended up like this:



Saddam's Baath Party overthrew Abdul Karim Kassim, who ended up like this:



Karim, in turn, had overthrown the Hashemite monarchy, whose ruling regent Abdullah ended up like this:



One wonders if al-Maliki is eager for the gruesome fate history would suggest he has in store.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Nouri al-Maliki replaced Saddam Hussein. Saddam, as we all know, ended up like this:



Saddam's Baath Party overthrew Abdul Karim Kassim, who ended up like this:



Karim, in turn, had overthrown the Hashemite monarchy, whose ruling regent Abdullah ended up like this:



One wonders if al-Maliki is eager for the gruesome fate history would suggest he has in store.

Actually the fact that he is eager to avoid such a fate is probably a major reason why he has clung to power so stubbornly, since he will avoid it so long as he remains in charge.

[Simfan34]

Well leaving and heading to somewhere that is not-Iraq is also a good way to avoid it, I'd say. (Also if the pictures are too much let me know, it's why I made them so small)

[King]

Nouri al-Maliki replaced Saddam Hussein. Saddam, as we all know, ended up like this:



Saddam's Baath Party overthrew Abdul Karim Kassim, who ended up like this:



Karim, in turn, had overthrown the Hashemite monarchy, whose ruling regent Abdullah ended up like this:



One wonders if al-Maliki is eager for the gruesome fate history would suggest he has in store.

Thanks, BuzzFeed.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I think he will be on a plane bound for Tehran and a lonely exile by tomorrow.

[Blue3]

I see that Maliki has finally revealed himself as an Iranian toy. I hope ISIS does the same soon.

Iran is calling for him to step down

http://www.businessinsider.com/iraqi-prime-minister-maliki-defiant-as-allies-call-for-his-ouster-2014-8

[PiMp DaDdy FitzGerald]

I see that Maliki has finally revealed himself as an Iranian toy. I hope ISIS does the same soon.

Iran is calling for him to step down

http://www.businessinsider.com/iraqi-prime-minister-maliki-defiant-as-allies-call-for-his-ouster-2014-8

Wow, I guess Maliki really is Iraq's Todd Akin.

[Simfan34]

The friend who posted the article says it's not clear who's behind the troops; "This could be a coup against Maliki, who was rejected by his State of Law coalition this evening for a third term. Or it might be Maliki's seizure of power. Or third, it may be a response to intelligence of an impending ISIS attack, which has been simmering since the end of Ramadan according to military sources." Apparently only ~50 MPs in Maliki's coalition still support him.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The friend who posted the article says it's not clear who's behind the troops; "This could be a coup against Maliki, who was rejected by his State of Law coalition this evening for a third term. Or it might be Maliki's seizure of power. Or third, it may be a response to intelligence of an impending ISIS attack, which has been simmering since the end of Ramadan according to military sources." Apparently only ~50 MPs in Maliki's coalition still support him.

I suspect that either a showdown is silently underway or that option three is occurring. Of course, it could be a combination of all of the above.

[BaconBacon96]

And so the Middle East plunges further into the abyss.

[The Mikado]

Simfan: I notice you're avoiding mentioning the Arif brothers in your list of Iraqi tyrants of the 20th century, one of whom lived quite comfortably in exile for decades and the other died in a helicopter crash.  Also, you didn't mention Saddam's predecessor, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam's dear uncle who was merely...forced into a very quiet retirement by his nephew.  He still died peacefully of natural causes, though.

Not all Iraqi leaders end up meeting gruesome fates.  Just...most of them.

[Simfan34]

Ah yes! The Arif brothers! They completely slipped my mind. Al-Bakr, I excluded for the sake of glibness, but I completely neglected the Arifs. Weren't there suspicions as the causes of al-Bakr's death, also? But yes, most of them had gruesome ends. Although one could argue they have been getting less gruesome over time.

[Mr. Morden]

Iraq's president has asked Haider al-Abadi, the (Shiite) deputy speaker of the Parliament, to form a government and become the new PM:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28739975

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Now we wait and see how Maliki reacts.

[Mr. Morden]

Here's Abadi's bio:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/08/11/meet-haider-al-abadi-the-man-named-iraqs-new-prime-minister/

[Simfan34]

Beyond the so called Fedayeen al-Maliki that is assumedly carrying out this operation, I doubt there is any significant force that would be willing to prop him up. And this militia of his has something like 2,000 men, I think. Not overly substantial. His own party has deserted him in this scheme, not to mention any outside help.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

God damn it, we need to Diem this guy ASAP !. Obama needs to learn a thing or two about what to do with US puppets who do not toe the line.

[PiMp DaDdy FitzGerald]

God damn it, we need to Diem this guy ASAP !. Obama needs to learn a thing or two about what to do with US puppets who do not toe the line.

It is reductionistic to simplify Maliki to being an American puppet. And besides: he's going to get the boot or the noose soon anyway.