there has been talk of a reinvasion of iraq for a little while now.

there's a clear comparison in palestine. they ran elections. the americans didn't like the results, so the elections didn't count.

it's sort if the same thing. this maliki guy is a bit of an authoritarian, but the bigger problem is that he's aligned with iran. but of course he is. he's shia. this hypothetical "shia power to replace iran" thing was always a pipe dream, because the threat of oppression by saudi arabia is too great. iran is the lesser evil from a shia perspective and nothing can be done to change the calculus besides take the saudis out of the equation, which would defeat the point in the first place.

so, this shouldn't surprise anybody.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/12/27/iraq-d27.html