Maliki's Troubles

"It's hard to keep your spirits up these days. Nouri Al Maliki is getting a recount in response to his requests regarding vote tampering. Various other political groups filed papers regarding vote tampering. Theirs have been ignored. Maliki gets what he wants. It doesn't look good.

Meanwhile, the prison scandal is growing. The TV stations have been covering it extensively. In a press conference, Maliki raised his voice to the human rights minister Wijdan Mikhael. She had objected to the rights of prisoners being violated in secret detention. Maliki said, "but aren't they all criminals?" She replied not necessarily. He growled at her. He doesn't look good at all to the Iraqi people. But if he has some connection to the judge who will decide the election results, well... Also, the debaathification panel has delayed its findings about political candidates. It says it will wait until after the judge decides the elections. The independent election committee says it will take a week or ten days to recount the Baghdad ballots by hand.

Maliki might think he can steal the government away from the people. But the pictures on TV of the prisoners held in secret jails are everywhere. The prisoners show their bruised limbs and complain that they had done nothing to deserve this treatment. The secret prison does not fall under either the ministry of interior or the ministry of defence. It is directly at the prime minister's direction. Maliki can kill as many al-Qaeda terrorists, but it will not make him look any better than the Baathists did to the Iraqi people."
IraqPundit