Ali Al-Zaidi may be the failure Iraq needs

We should at least entertain the theoretical possibility that Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, is not a fully formed Iranian proxy in the mold of Nouri al-Maliki or Adel Abdul Mahdi. Imagine the following scenario: al-Zaidi speaks the loud language of reform, but governs with cold pragmatism. His promises to “disarm the militias” and “eradicate corruption” give him moral cover to enact cosmetic adjustments that leave the core machinery of plunder untouched—the very swamp in which his government lives. Parliament, unable to bear the cost of toppling yet another prime minister, cooperates. His media campaigns—from a Washington visit packed with a box of carefully arranged illusions, to an upcoming pilgrimage to Tehran packed with a box of loyalty—are cheap […]