Cracks Are Appearing In The Iraqi Coalition Government

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki says the Baghdad security plan is going in the right direction despite the challenges. (File photo) (AFP: AFP PHOTO HADI MIZBAN)

Maliki's Tenure On Ice As Rift With Kurds Widens
-- Christian Science Monitor

The Iraqi premier is increasingly at risk as cracks in his Shiite-Kurdish coalition grow in the waning days of the Bush administration, his other main ally.

Baghdad and Sulaymaniyah, Iraq - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition of support is fraying. The Kurds, his chief Iraqi ally, are increasingly at odds with the Shiite premier over issues of power, oil, the military, and Kirkuk. Mr. Maliki's other main sponsor – the Bush administration – will also soon disappear.

While the growing Kurdish-Shiite rift may be the biggest threat yet to Maliki's tenure, what may ensure his survival are fears of the political battle that would follow his ouster and wreck many of the gains in Iraq's young democracy.

"In the absence of a good viable alternative that can be put in place quickly, the country cannot tolerate the chaos," says a senior Kurdish official.

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My Comment: The Iraqi elections are a few months away. Everyone is now jockeying for position with their constituents. The Kurds are not Mr. Maliki's constituents.