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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, landed in Iraq to meet with various Iraqi leaders, and with embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who assured Kerry he would be meeting with Iraqi lawmakers to form a new government.

Kerry issued remarks on his trip in Baghdad by saying, “Now, President Obama asked me to visit Baghdad today to demonstrate America’s support for Iraq and its people during this time of crisis. This is clearly a moment when the stakes for Iraq’s future could not be clearer. ISIL’s campaign of terror, their grotesque acts of violence and repressive ideology pose a grave danger to Iraq’s future. ISIL is not, as it claims, fighting on behalf of Sunnis. ISIL is not fighting for a stronger Iraq; quite the contrary. ISIL is fighting to divide Iraq and to destroy Iraq.”

Kerry mentioned, “I stressed that urgency and I stressed the responsibility of Iraq’s leaders to act, whether the meeting with Prime Minister Maliki, with speaker Nujaifi, with ISCI leader Hakim, or Foreign Minister Zebari, I emphasize that defending Iraq against ISIL depends largely on their ability – all of them – to form a new government and to do it quickly. It is essential that Iraq’s leaders form a genuinely inclusive government as rapidly as possible within their own constitutional framework.”

Kerry continued to stress, “As I told Iraqi leaders today, and as I’ve made clear to my counterparts in the region, neither the United States nor any other country has the right to pick who leads Iraq. That is up to the people of Iraq. So it is when all of Iraq’s people can shape Iraq’s future, when the legitimate concerns and aspirations of all of Iraq’s communities – Sunni, Shia, Kurd – are all respected, that is when Iraq is strongest. And that is when Iraq will be the most secure.”

In response to reporter’s questions Kerry continued, “The support will be intense and sustained and if Iraq’s leaders take the necessary steps to bring the country together, it will be effective.”

The question is what will the United States do if Maliki does not form a coalition government, what leverage does the U.S. have?

Maliki failure as a leader contributed to this mess, but does anyone really believe he will form a coalition government, based on vague assurances of support by the United States if he follows through on bringing the country together.

Iran has offered support plus sent its Revolutionary Guards to Iraq to support the Maliki and the Shiite-dominated government.

Why would Maliki follow what Washington dictates? Maliki is only after what’s best for Maliki and Shiite domination; we lost any leverage we had back in 2011.

President Obama really has no credibility among the various nations of the Arab world, considering his disastrous handling of the Arab Spring revolt, and his “redline” utterance during the Syrian crisis of last September.

The United States at this point really has no good options and the president still has not articulated a coherent strategy for Iraq or the Middle East, but Republicans haven’t offered anything coherent either.

The coming weeks will be crucial in Iraq, and for the region.