How bad are things in Iraq currently?
So bad that even the kangaroo trial of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi hasn't been able to dominate the news cycle in Iraq.
Human Rights Watch revealed last week that Nouri al-Maliki continues to run a secret prison in Iraq where people are tortured.
How bad is it?
So bad that the White House advised him to invite a few Americans in for the sort of dog-and-pony show Sean Penn was slammed for taking part in when Saddam Hussein was still president of Iraq.
Nouri's trying to spin that while also wondering if there's any way he can pull Moqtada al-Sadr back into his circle?
Last week, repeatedly, all eyes were on the Shi'ite cleric Moqtada who, as Nouri's stocks falls, sees his own rise. While Nouri fumbles and flops, Moqtada continues to appear more and more the statesman.
Currently, Iraq waits to see if there will be a no-confidence vote on Nouri.
Huh?
What?
Oh, that's right, The New York Times and other US outlets didn't cover any of that.
But Moqtada gave Nouri a dealine to implement the Erbil Agreement and Moqtada's 18-point plan as well and, if it's not implemented, as May winds down, Moqtada says they will move for a no-confidence vote.
They have already come up with a list of people who could replace Nouri as prime minister -- and the list is public. Currently, they're whittling it down to one choice. All the names on the list belong to the National Alliance -- as does Nouri. (The National Alliance is a Shi'ite political slate with various groups including Nouri's State of Law, as well as Moqtada's bloc and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.) Saturday, elements of the National Alliance were at Moqtada's Najaf home along with representatives of the Kurdistan Alliance and Iraqiya.
Maybe some day the US press will feign interest in the topic?
Maybe not.
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Illustration is Isaiah's "Here's Nouri."