The defiance is needed, since Maliki has been, for the last eight
years, the supreme commander of the armed forces. He has also been in
charge of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior, the
National Security Ministry and has co-opted the Supreme Court to assign
to him nine supposedly independent bodies by the Constitution, including
the central bank, in charge of the $700 billion in oil royalties over
the past eight years; the Integrity Commission, in charge of dealing
with fraud and corruption; the National Media Commission, television,
radio and the press; and the Justice and Questioning Commission, in
charge of deciding who can or cannot be employed or elected.
Maliki’s office is also the holder of the purse for funding a number
of militias that carry out atrocities that soldiers and policemen cannot
easily commit, and to fund the tribal chiefs who support him against
the rising population.
-- Haifa Zangana, "Iraqi author writes of U.S. destructive role in her country" (Workers World).