--- title: Maliki Fires Military Leaders While Others Blame Him For Crisis | TIME description: Nouri al-Maliki fired the military commanders who lost control of Mosul, but his critics say the prime minister himself should step down for stirring sectarian tensions. canonical: https://time.com/video/n6mTqsjw/ og:title: Maliki Fires Military Leaders While Others Blame Him For Crisis og:description: Nouri al-Maliki fired the military commanders who lost control of Mosul, but his critics say the prime minister himself should step down for stirring sectarian tensions. og:url: https://time.com/video/n6mTqsjw/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/n6mTqsjw/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Maliki Fires Military Leaders While Others Blame Him For Crisis twitter:description: Nouri al-Maliki fired the military commanders who lost control of Mosul, but his critics say the prime minister himself should step down for stirring sectarian tensions. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/n6mTqsjw/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Maliki Fires Military Leaders While Others Blame Him For Crisis > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Maliki Fires Military Leaders While Others Blame Him For Crisis [Watch (HLS stream): Maliki Fires Military Leaders While Others Blame Him For Crisis](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/n6mTqsjw.m3u8) (2:01)  _Published 2014-06-18. Nouri al-Maliki fired the military commanders who lost control of Mosul, but his critics say the prime minister himself should step down for stirring sectarian tensions._ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:51 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [The Families of Israeli Children Held Hostage by Hamas Speak Out](/video/J3KJMxrQ/) ### The Families of Israeli Children Held Hostage by Hamas Speak Out [Museum of the Bible Founder Speaks on Roy Moore](/video/sHdkXqvV/) ### Museum of the Bible Founder Speaks on Roy Moore [Jimmy Fallon Lip Syncs Dirty Dancy Song With Drew Barrymore](/video/DqnzwmgB/) ### Jimmy Fallon Lip Syncs Dirty Dancy Song With Drew Barrymore --- ## Transcript Although Iraqi forces managed to hold onto Baghdad Tuesday, the senior military commanders who failed to do the same in Mossell, have been fired. Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki blamed four senior officials for the city's fall to ISIS rebels, saying they failed to fulfill their professional and military duties. But there are plenty who blame Maliki himself for the violence in Iraq. A Time article Tuesday, poses the question, is Maliki the man to save Iraq? With an Iraqi political scientist saying, Maliki can't be the mediator, he is the problem. The Shiite leader has been accused of ignoring and even oppressing the country's Sunni minority. Instituting violent crack downs on Sunni protesters last year. US officials aren't thrilled with his track record either. Iraqi's leaders have been unable to overcome too often the mistrust and sectarian differences that have been long simmering there. He should resign. He's incapable of bringing the Sunnis back into the fold. There had been gestures that Maliki is moving in a more inclusive direction. A closed door meeting Tuesday, between Maliki and the Sunni leaders resulted in a call for national unity. But that might be difficult when Maliki's spokesperson seems to deny the problem exists, telling CNN, this isn't a sectarian conflict. At the same time, reports are surfacing that Shiite led forces, carried out a massacre of Sunni prisoners, killing at least 44, in apparent retribution for attacks carried out by the Sunni ISIS militants. The New York Times made a chilling observation that the killings fit the pattern of death squads, during the sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007, at the height of the American- led invasion. But for the time being the U. S. doesn't appear to appear to be pressuring Maliki to step down. Well that's up the Iraqi people, and it's up to the government formation process, I don't think the United States should be issuing instructions or orders. While Shiite militias have mobilized to help defend Baghdad, the U. S. is preparing for the worst, sending 275 troops into the city, to protect the U. S. Embassy. Thanks for watching. I'm Christian Brian. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Maliki Fires Military Leaders While Others Blame Him For Crisis","description":"Nouri al-Maliki fired the military commanders who lost control of Mosul, but his critics say the prime minister himself should step down for stirring sectarian tensions.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/n6mTqsjw/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-18T00:55:37.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/n6mTqsjw.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/n6mTqsjw/","duration":"PT2M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/n6mTqsjw/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```