US Approves of Maliki’s Consolidating Dictatorial Power in Iraq
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq has expressed approval of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s quest to detain Iraq’s vice president on terrorism charges, despite almost everyone else recognizing it as part of a troubling pattern of consolidating dictatorial power. - “There is a serious effort by the Iraqi judiciary to have a free and fair and just investigation,” Ambassador James Jeffrey said. “It seems a lot of care is being taken at this point to maintain judicial independence and to have a very broad investigation.” Maliki, a Shiite, ordered the arrest of his Sunni Vice President Hashemi just as the last U.S. troops left Iraq. Many saw the move in the context of a broader pattern by Maliki of corruption, illegally crowding out Sunni authorities in Iraq’s government, and consolidating undue power for himself. In fact, nearly everybody agrees this is the case except for Maliki, his political allies, and the United States.