The Assassination of Nouri al-Maliki? U.S. Looks to Oust Iraqi Prime Minister

I suggested on Twitter a couple of days ago that the administration should go the Ngo Dinh Diem route. Nouri al-Maliki's been tightening his grip in defiance of Washington. But his time is up and it's not like there's no precedent for decisive action.

At the Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Signals Iraq's Maliki Should Go: The White House Is Convinced the Shiite Leader Is Unable to Reconcile With the Nation's Sunni Minority and Stabilize a Volatile Political Landscape":

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is signaling that it wants a new government in Iraq without Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, convinced the Shiite leader is unable to reconcile with the nation's Sunni minority and stabilize a volatile political landscape.

The U.S. administration is indicating it wants Iraq's political parties to form a new government without Mr. Maliki as he tries to assemble a ruling coalition following elections this past April, U.S. officials say.

Such a new government, U.S., officials say, would include the country's Sunni and Kurdish communities and could help to stem Sunni support for the al Qaeda offshoot, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, that has seized control of Iraqi cities over the past two weeks. That, the officials argue, would help to unify the country and reverse its slide into sectarian division.

No worries, of course.

The U.S. wants nothing to do with a coup against Maliki, because in reality the White House is just washing its hand of the whole affair. A violent overthrow of Maliki's regime would signal a return to America's viceroy role in Iraq. And that ain't happening. Shoot, as it is Obama's backing away from airstrikes against the insurgents. Basically, we're stuck with hashtags from here on out.

More at WSJ.

PHOTO: The body of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem (via Wikimedia Commons).