I'm John Bachelor.

The war in Iraq is a memory of the Bush administration ending in the Obama

administration, but it is always in front of us because Iraq is seeking to become a modern

nation with all of its parts still wounded by the war. There is a new prime minister, and I welcome

Hussein Abdel-Hussain of the Foundation for Defense

of Democracies, writing most recently for National Interest, to introduce the new player who is not a

politician. He's a well-to-do man associated with a conglomerate of many businesses, including food,

Ali al-Zadi.

Hussein, a very good evening to you. Thank you for this. Iraq was then.

Ali al-Zadi is now. As I understand it, he's seeking to form a government so we cannot assume

anything, but we do know that he is a new name, to me, certainly, and to the American people.

What is striking about his elevation to prime minister? Because I believe he is not a career

or any kind of politician I recognize at all. Good day to you. Well, hi, John. Ali Zeddy has

no memorable political statement to his name. So if you look him up,

if you try to remember him, he's never uttered anything about politics. So in the political

world, he's a no one. And that's exactly why he was chosen. And this is emerging to be a model in Iraq,

wherein the powerful Shia chiefs are always trying to get themselves elected prime minister,

each one of them maintaining a significant block in parliament.

And then they end up failing on agreeing or selecting one amongst them.

And they end up choosing no one.

Of the eight Iraqi chiefs in parliament currently, three of them started their careers, just like Ali Zaid.

There were no ones.

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