The United States and Iran issued messages of support to Iraq’s new prime minister-designate on Tuesday while conditions in the Iraqi capital and the northern regions remain perilous.
Haider al-Abadi still faces opposition closer to home, where his Shi’ite party colleague Nuri al-Maliki has refused to step aside after eight years as premier that have alienated Iraq’s once dominant Sunni minority and irked Washington and Tehran.However, Shi’ite militia and army commanders long loyal to Maliki signaled their backing for the change, as did many people on the streets of Baghdad, eager for an end to fears of a further descent into sectarian and ethnic bloodletting.
As Western powers and international aid agencies considered further help for tens of thousands of people driven from their homes and under threat from the Sunni militants of the Islamic State near the Syrian border, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would consider requests for military and other assistance once Abadi forms a government to unite the country.
Do you think the 2nd Amendment will be destroyed by the Biden Administration?(2)
The Obama Administration has been very vocal in trying to push al-Maliki aside since the push by ISIS inside Iraq has intensified.