Nouri Al-Maliki Won't Seek Re-Election in 2014.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has announced that he will not seek a third term in office when the upcoming 2014 National elections are held. This comes in the immediate aftermath of demonstrations that have claimed government's in Egypt and Tunisia over the past two weeks. It appears al-Maliki is attemtping to get ahead of similar demonstrations in Iraq.
Al-Maliki, who was elected Prime Minister in 2006 after confidence failed in Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and re-elected in last year's election that was in stalemate for 10 months, has been a friend of the United States since the beginning of the War and was forced to flee Iraq in 1979 for two decades when his ties to the outlawed Islamic Dawa Party were discovered. We can definitely agree that he is an Iraqi Patriot.

This news is definitely disheartening, but we have no choice in the matter.

Iraq would be smart to follow al-Maliki's example and limit all Presidents, and Prime Minister's to two four-year terms. That way neither Islamist, nor Tribal separatists can accuse anyone of "dictatorship", while Iraq's young democracy would be set in stone - such as America's Republic is.

Any thoughts?