Political Chaos In Iraq

Politics in Iraq is a nasty game; sometimes it seems the leaders are like [out of the] "Godfather," a collection of crime families getting together. The Sadrists have never loved Maliki; Maliki has never loved them but they saw that they could have a marriage of mutual convenience, and that's really what their relationship is.
In 2008, Maliki was able to be seen as a nationalist figure because he ordered his troops to attack the Sadrists. In 2010, after the elections, he brokered a deal with them so he could stay in power. In return for that, the Sadrists received ministries with lucrative finances. They had members of their movement, who had been imprisoned for violent crimes, amnestied even though there was no legal basis for their amnesties.
When you hear the head of Sadr's political bloc, Baha'a al-Araji, issuing a statement calling for new elections, it's as much a shake-down as it is a real call to arms. It's more a rumble to see what else the Sadrists can get from Maliki. Link here.