ISIS Is Weakened, but Iraq Election Could Unravel Hard-Won Stability<br />Given the country’s history of tight elections and coalition governments in the three national polls since Mr. Hussein’s ouster<br />in 2003, Mr. Abadi needs an alliance with at least one of three major bulwarks of Shiite political power to win, analysts say.<br />Even a Shiite leader, Moktada al-Sadr, a possible kingmaker in this vote, called the alliance "abhorrent."<br />Within 24 hours, Mr. Abadi had reversed himself, and the militia leaders left the coalition.<br />One way Mr. Abadi could bolster his reputation, especially among Iraq’s Sunnis, is a successful performance at an international donor’s conference next month in which his<br />government is hoping to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to rebuild the mostly Sunni cities destroyed during military operations against the Islamic State.<br />30, 2018<br />DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — In just three years, the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, has rebuilt the army, defeated the Islamic State<br />and restored sovereignty across this deeply divided nation, accomplishments that, in the eyes of many, give him the stature of an Iraqi Abe Lincoln.<br />He welcomed the leaders of Iranian-backed Shiite militias into a grand coalition<br />that he hoped would cement his image as a moderating figure who could reach beyond his own Shiite base to appeal to Iraq’s other communities.<br />But while Mr. Abadi is the leader of the nation, he does not head his own political<br />party, the Islamic Dawa — making his political position precarious.
