Iraqi Government on Shaky Ground

Baghdad’s government could fall over demands from key Iraqi Cabinet ministers to end the U.S. occupation of their country.  The ministers support Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, the driving force behind this week’s huge anti-American rallies in Iraq.

Washington Post:

Iraqi Cabinet ministers allied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened Wednesday to quit the government to protest the prime minister’s lack of support for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal, according to a statement.

Such a pullout by the very bloc that put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in office could collapse his already perilously weak government. The threat comes two months into a U.S. effort to pacify Baghdad in order to give al-Maliki’s government room to function.

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