U.S. Congressman Ted Poe chair of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade told Talk Radio News Service (TRNS) on Tuesday: “I think he has to go.”
Poe told TRNS after a subcommittee meeting, “He needed to go a long time ago. He’s incompetent and has the inability to lead, and he can’t lead all the people in Iraq. He’s trying to preserve his fiefdom, and rulers in that situation have many times dealt in an unreal world, and do not know they have lost their credibility and authority, and he is one of those.”
“What is needed is not new promises, but concrete action,” said James Jeffrey, former Deputy National Security Advisor under President George W. Bush.
“There is absolutely no chance of Iraq remaining united, or of the Iraqi security forces performing effectively or of an inclusive government appealing to Kurds and Sunni Arabs, with him (al-Maliki) still at the helm.”
Former U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. John Keane (ret.) said the U.S. disengagement from Iraq was “disastrous” for the region.
“These U.S. policy failures along with Maliki’s political incompetence and malfeasance in undermining his opponents directly contributed to the alienation of Sunni tribes and the success of ISIL,” said Keane.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a congressional hearing last month: “The Maliki government, candidly, has got to go if you want any reconciliation.”
“There’s no question that not enough has been done by the government, including the prime minister, to govern inclusively, and that that has contributed to the situation and the crisis that we have today in Iraq,” said then-White House Press Secretary Jay Carney last month.