Trump Warns Iraq Against Returning Former PM al-Maliki To Power Amid Worries About Iran Influence

International

pti-PTI

President
Donald
Trump
warned
Iraq
on
Tuesday
that
the
US
would
no
longer
support
the
country
if
its
former
prime
minister,
Nouri
al-Maliki,
returns
to
power.
Trump
made
the
threat
days
after
the
dominant
political
bloc
known
as
the
Coordination
Framework,
a
collection
of
Shiite
parties,
announced
it
was
backing
the
nomination
of
al-Maliki,
who
the
US
administration
views
as
too
close
to
Iran.

“Last
time
Maliki
was
in
power,
the
Country
descended
into
poverty
and
total
chaos.
That
should
not
be
allowed
to
happen
again,”
Trump
said
in
a
social
media
post
announcing
his
opposition
to
al-Maliki.
“Because
of
his
insane
policies
and
ideologies,
if
elected,
the
United
States
of
America
will
no
longer
help
Iraq
and,
if
we
are
not
there
to
help,
Iraq
has
ZERO
chance
of
Success,
Prosperity,
or
Freedom.”

Trump’s
intervention
into
Iraqi
politics
comes
at
a
fraught
moment
for
Trump
in
the
Middle
East
as
he
weighs
carrying
out
new
strikes
on
Iraq’s
neighbour
Iran,
which
has
maintained
deep
influence
in
Iraq’s
government
since
the
US
ouster
of
Saddam
Hussein
in
2003.
Trump
has
left
open
the
possibility
of
military
action
in
response
to
Tehran’s
deadly
crackdown
on
recent
protests
against
the
Islamic
government.

Al-Maliki’s
troubled
relationship
with
Washington

Caretaker
Prime
Minister
Mohammed
Shia
al-Sudani’s
bloc
won
the
largest
share
of
seats
in
November’s
parliamentary
elections.
But
he
stepped
aside
earlier
this
month
after
he
was
unable
to
form
a
government.

That
cleared
the
field
for
al-Maliki
after
the
two
had
competed
for
the
backing
of
the
Coordination
Framework.
Al-Maliki,
who
first
served
as
prime
minister
in
2006,
is
the
only
Iraqi
prime
minister
to
serve
two
terms
since
the
US
toppled
Saddam
Hussein
in
2003.
Al-Maliki’s
bid
for
a
third
term
failed
after
he
was
accused
of
monopolising
power
and
alienating
the
country’s
sizable
Sunni
and
Kurdish
populations.

When
he
came
to
power
in
May
2006,
Al-Maliki
was
initially
embraced
by
President
George
W.
Bush.
Al-Maliki
took
over
as
prime
minister
months
after
the
bombing
of
the
al-Askari
shrine,
a
significant
Shiite
mosque.
It
was
a
moment
that
deepened
sectarian
tension
in
Iraq
and
sparked
a
period
of
intense
violence
in
the
country.
But
within
months,
US
officials
soured
on
al-Maliki.

They
saw
his
government
as
too
often
favouring
Shiite
factions
and
alienating
Sunni
populations,
which
exacerbated
the
security
crisis.
For
years,
concerns
were
frequently
raised
in
Washington
about
Maliki’s
closeness
to
Iran
and
his
ability
to
govern
independently
of
Tehran’s
influence.
By
2014,
the
Obama
administration
had
lost
confidence
in
al-Maliki’s
ability
to
manage
the
security
situation,
particularly
the
rise
of
the
Islamic
State
group,
which
had
seized
large
swaths
of
the
country.
‘This
is
Iraq,
so
never
say
never’

The
Trump
administration
began
publicly
signalling
its
concerns
about
the
political
situation
in
Iraq
in
recent
days,
with
Secretary
of
State
Marco
Rubio
telling
caretaker
Prime
Minister
al-Sudani
in
a
phone
call
Sunday
that
the
US
was
concerned
about
a
pro-Iran
government
taking
root
in
Iraq.

“The
Secretary
emphasised
that
a
government
controlled
by
Iran
cannot
successfully
put
Iraq’s
own
interests
first,
keep
Iraq
out
of
regional
conflicts,
or
advance
the
mutually
beneficial
partnership
between
the
United
States
and
Iraq,”
said
State
Department
principal
deputy
spokesperson
Tommy
Pigott
in
a
statement.

Hussain
Abdul-Hussain,
a
research
fellow
focused
on
the
Middle
East
at
the
Foundation
for
Defense
of
Democracies,
a
hawkish
Washington
think
tank,
said
that
Trump’s
public
opposition
creates
a
difficult
hurdle
for
al-Maliki
to
overcome.
“But
this
is
Iraq,
so
never
say
never,”
said
Abdul-Hussein.
“And
this
was
a
guy
whose
political
life
was
supposed
to
have
expired
many,
many
years
ago,
and
yet
Maliki
is
still
here.”

The
US
also
has
been
pushing
Baghdad
to
disarm
Iran-backed
groups
operating
inside
Iraq
—
a
difficult
proposition,
given
the
political
power
that
many
of
them
hold.

Trump’s
intervention
comes
at
a
fraught
moment
with
Iran

It’s
not
the
first
time
that
Trump
has
intervened
in
another
country’s
politics
since
returning
to
office.
He
also
offered
strong
backing
last
year
for
right-wing
candidates
in
Argentina,
Honduras,
and
Poland.
The
long-frayed
relationship
between
the
US
and
Iran
remains
tense
after
Trump
earlier
this
month
repeatedly
threatened
Tehran
with
military
action
if
his
administration
found
the
Islamic
Republic
was
using
deadly
force
against
anti-government
protesters.

He
then
said
he
was
holding
off
on
strikes
after
claiming
that
Iran
had
halted
the
execution
of
some
800
people
detained
in
the
protests
—
something
Iran’s
top
prosecutor,
Mohammad
Movahedi,
has
strongly
denied.
Trump
may
have
been
at
least
temporarily
dissuaded
from
carrying
out
a
strike
because
of
a
shift
in
the
U.S.
naval
presence
from
the
Middle
East
to
South
America.

The
aircraft
carrier
USS
Gerald
Ford
was
redirected
from
the
Mediterranean
Sea
in
November
to
support
operations
targeting
drug
smugglers
in
the
Caribbean
Sea
and
eastern
Pacific
as
well
as
this
month’s
capture
of
former
Venezuelan
president
Nicolas
Maduro.
But
the
aircraft
carrier
USS
Abraham
Lincoln
and
three
accompanying
warships
have
arrived
in
the
Middle
East,
US
Central
Command
confirmed
Monday.
That’s
raised
anew
speculation
that
Trump
could
soon
opt
to
order
airstrikes
on
Iran
for
its
crackdown
on
protesters.
(AP)
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