唐纳德·特朗普总统和他的政府仍然受到叙利亚最近事件的困扰，面临邻国伊拉克迫在眉睫的危机。在一个成千上万的美国军队已经死亡，还有成千上万的军队仍在部署的国家，美国和对手伊朗都支持一位四面楚歌的总理，因为民众要求他下台的呼声可能会威胁到他们的影响力，并导致内战。

最近一轮抗议首次出现在伊拉克是在2018年7月，大约一年前，前总理海德尔·阿巴迪在一场联合伊拉克军队、伊朗支持的民兵、美国领导的联盟和库尔德武装的运动中宣布战胜伊斯兰国激进组织。骚乱迫使阿巴迪的继任者阿黛尔·阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪总理辞职。

尽管伊拉克人公开质疑阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪能否给伊拉克带来团结和恢复平静，特朗普政府和一些议员支持现任总理。国务院一名高级官员告诉记者新闻周刊“首相和他的团队是一个好政府，可能是我们所希望的最好政府。”

一些立法者同意。“阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪是我的朋友。我希望他能澄清这件事。我认为他是个好人，但是腐败猖獗。年轻人厌倦了。你在黎巴嫩看到了反弹，在伊拉克也看到了反弹。南卡罗来纳州共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆告诉记者:“年轻人希望他们的国家提供更好的服务和更多的希望。”新闻周刊。“我喜欢阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪，我认为他有库尔德人和逊尼派的信心。但他必须让他的政府更容易被年轻的伊拉克人接受，这有点像“伊拉克之春”，因为没有更好的说法。”

“伊拉克之春”一词指的是2011年席卷阿拉伯世界的所谓“阿拉伯之春”示威浪潮，这是一场针对长期领导人的群众运动，他们未能解决不成比例地影响该地区青年的社会经济问题。然而，这些抗议一度被视为希望的灯塔，后来演变成了利比亚、叙利亚和也门的致命内战——什叶派穆斯林民兵领导人穆克塔达·萨德尔在其旨在敦促阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪离开的最新警告中引用了这些警示故事。

然而，美国和伊朗都不希望这样，因为他们试图通过一个脆弱的系统来维护自己的影响力，而这个系统现在是大规模起义的目标。

 

10月25日，在伊拉克首都巴格达南部的伊斯兰圣地卡尔巴拉举行反政府示威后，伊拉克抗议者在与安全部队的冲突中焚烧物品堵塞道路。据报道，20多名示威者今天在巴格达和伊拉克南部重新集会时被实弹和催泪瓦斯杀害。

阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪去年当选，是有影响力的敌对民兵领导人萨德尔和哈迪·埃米尔之间的妥协。萨德尔威胁说，不信任投票可能导致政治崩溃，因为萨德尔是最高赛鲁恩联盟的成员，该联盟在不断恶化的流血冲突中加入反对派。由于该国大部分基础设施仍然遭到破坏，经济困难没有得到解决，安全问题依然存在，几乎各行各业的伊拉克人都走上街头，最近几周，与安全部队和编入武装部队的各种民兵发生致命冲突的报道大幅增加。

伊拉克经历了几十年的冲突，起因是20世纪80年代与伊朗长达八年的毁灭性战争，以及在接下来的20年里美国发动的两次袭击，后者推翻了长期领导人萨达姆·侯赛因。美国建立了一个新政府，代表伊拉克什叶派穆斯林的大多数，因为致命的逊尼派穆斯林叛乱蹂躏了这个国家。

在此期间，萨德尔和阿米里领导着伊朗支持的什叶派穆斯林民兵组织，目标是2011年撤出该国的美国军队和基地组织，后者更名为伊斯兰国，并随着时间的推移不断壮大。近年来，美国军队、萨德尔和埃米尔的团体——分别称为萨拉亚·萨拉姆(Saraya al-Salam)，前马赫迪军和巴德组织(Badr Organization)，现已在民众动员力量的保护伞下重组——与后来被称为伊斯兰国的圣战组织作战。

去年伊拉克举行伊黎伊斯兰国失败后的首次选举时，萨德尔的赛鲁恩联盟名列榜首，紧随其后的是埃米尔的法塔赫集团。这两个人都与伊朗有联系，但前者越来越抵制德黑兰在巴格达日益增长的影响力，因为后者欣然接受了这一点。

当被问及是否有任何党派煽动伊拉克安全局势恶化时，隶属于库尔德斯坦爱国联盟(PUK)的伊拉克库尔德议员希尔万·米尔扎告诉记者新闻周刊“不太清楚，但是萨德尔和阿巴迪想要这个。”阿米里最初也表示支持阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪的下台，但似乎已经改变了主意，可能是在伊朗革命卫队圣城部队指挥官卡西姆·索莱马尼的建议下，后者在伊拉克有着巨大的影响力。路透社援引多种消息来源证实了这两个人最近的一次会面。

伊朗设法利用地区动荡，在叙利亚等国树立了积极的角色。在叙利亚，美国国会议员仍广泛关注特朗普从该国北部撤军的决定，此举旨在避免两个合作伙伴——帮助五角大楼打败伊斯兰国的叙利亚库尔德人和认为一些库尔德民兵是恐怖组织的北约盟友土耳其——之间的战斗。然而，即使在叙利亚局势动荡的情况下，更多的国会议员仍在关注伊拉克，尽管对于美国的战略是什么或应该是什么几乎没有共识。

 

伊拉克什叶派穆斯林教士穆克塔达·萨德尔(左)；2016年10月18日，伊拉克人民动员部队副主席阿布·迈赫迪·穆汉迪(C)和什叶派穆斯林巴德旅负责人哈迪·阿米里(R)在圣城纳杰夫举行联合新闻发布会。这三个人及其各自的部队对击败伊斯兰国至关重要，并被纳入国家安全机构。

弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员蒂姆·凯恩告诉记者新闻周刊“伊拉克的不稳定和抗议引起了人们的关注，原因有很多。”

“关键是伊拉克人是我们的合作伙伴，所以首先，他们认为什么会有帮助。凯恩说:“我们最不需要做的就是——因为有时我们的介入会导致一些人的不安，所以我们必须以伊拉克政府、我们的合作伙伴认为会有所帮助的方式去做。”。“我还不知道他们认为什么会有帮助，如果有帮助的话，所以这是试图弄清楚计划是什么的一部分，但实现这一点的最佳方式是政府站出来说‘好吧，我们看到的是，我们认为一个好计划是什么，现在问我们一些问题，挑战我们的部分计划，这样我们会得到一个更好的工作产品。"

亚利桑那州的民主党众议员鲁本·加列戈(Ruben Gallego)在伊拉克遭受暴力入侵后曾在伊拉克担任美国海军陆战队士兵，虽然他觉得局势尚未接近公开冲突，但他呼吁阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪在冲突爆发前辞职。

“很明显，这是由许多伊拉克公民推动的，他们想要一个更少腐败、更透明、更少滥用权力的政府，”加列戈说新闻周刊。“在这一点上，这开始沿着宗派路线蔓延，这是非常危险的。老实说，我认为伊拉克政府将不得不辞职，开始新的生活，以保持国家团结。”

“我相信政府可能会崩溃，”他补充道。“我不认为那一定会导致内战。我正处于上一次内战的中期，那里有一场反对什叶派领导的政府的逊尼派起义。我不认为这是伊拉克的历史，但我认为政府必须进行彻底改革。”

加列戈认为，“这些伊拉克公民也厌倦了伊朗的影响，我认为伊朗害怕失去对伊拉克政府的更多控制。不幸的是，我认为他们也会试图影响结果。”

伊利诺伊州共和党众议员亚当·金辛格也表示，他“同样对该地区的政治动荡感到担忧，但也对伊朗在这场冲突中扮演的角色感到担忧。”

伊拉克是整个中东爆发的美伊不和最不稳定的地方之一。美国最初支持伊拉克在伊朗1979年伊斯兰革命后入侵伊朗，尽管美国默认支持冲突双方，但在针对侯赛因的政权更迭使巴格达成为华盛顿和德黑兰的盟友之前，美国将两国视为敌人。

美国和伊朗在2015年克服了数十年的外交孤立，达成了2015年核协议，这一历史性协议也得到了中国、欧盟、法国、德国、俄罗斯和英国的认可。去年，特朗普单方面放弃了这项协议，引发了一轮紧张局势，将美国和伊朗推到了互相打击的边缘。

 

10月23日，伊拉克总理阿黛尔·阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪在普遍动荡中向顾问和安全部队成员发表讲话。尽管得到了美国和伊朗的支持，但阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪感到伊拉克人民要求他辞职的压力越来越大。

结果是对美国在伊拉克的存在产生了新的敌意，尤其是在许多伊朗支持的民兵组织中，这些民兵组织现已正式成为国家安全机构的一部分。去年在华盛顿驻巴格达大使馆和埃尔比勒领事馆附近发生明显的火箭袭击后，美国国务院疏散了所有非紧急人员，但大约5000名士兵在该地区可能是一场新的棘手战斗的前线。

新泽西州民主党众议员汤姆·马林诺夫斯基引用伊拉克消息称，将这些外交官撤出是“美国对国家的洗手不干”

在不久后发表的一份声明中新闻周刊美国国务卿麦克·庞贝星期五在巴格达直接发表文章说，“美国欢迎伊拉克政府为解决伊拉克社会目前的问题所做的任何认真努力。”

“伊拉克政府应该倾听走上街头表达意见的伊拉克人民的合法要求。美国正在密切关注局势，从一开始我们就呼吁各方拒绝暴力，”庞贝说。“伊拉克政府对10月初暴力事件的调查缺乏足够的可信度，伊拉克人民应该得到真正的问责和正义。”

“随着萨利赫总统宣布的努力开始，最近对新闻自由和言论自由的严格限制必须放松，”他补充说。
“新闻自由是民主改革的固有内容。美国政府继续支持伊拉克机构、伊拉克人民以及伊拉克的安全、稳定和主权。”

一名伊拉克情报官员告诉记者，尽管被围困的阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪发誓要留下来，直到萨德尔和阿米尔找到替代者新闻周刊他的时间可能很快就到了。

这名官员说:“年轻的伊拉克什叶派青年想要推翻总理阿黛尔·阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪，伊朗人不想失去他。”。"伊朗人输掉了这场战斗，但他们远未输掉这场战争。"

米尔扎说:“由于这场动乱，我们担心整个伊拉克体系。”新闻周刊。“这可能会导致土耳其、伊朗甚至沙特阿拉伯对伊拉克进行干预，并可能导致最坏的结果。”

米尔扎说，目前的局势是“民兵手中有枪和伊拉克国家软弱的结果”，同时“美国不支持阿迪勒·阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪和伊拉克政府为伊拉克人民做好事，尤其是在打击伊拉克伊斯兰国之后。”

至于库尔德人，他们在管理北部库尔德地区自治政府的过程中在政治上在PUK和库尔德斯坦民主党(KDP)之间基本上是分裂的，米尔扎说，到目前为止，他们已经设法“作为一支力量行动”，而不是为了“保卫库尔德斯坦地区”而“分裂”

“他们没有任何民兵，”米尔扎告诉记者新闻周刊，只有佩什梅加，伊拉克官方库尔德自卫队。当被问及库尔德地区是否准备在该国其他地方发生危机时进行自卫时，他说，“这一定是因为，如果局势继续下去，我们不知道伊拉克的未来是什么。”

 

10月31日，在首都巴格达持续的反政府示威中，伊拉克抗议者聚集在通往高度安全的绿色地带的朱穆里亚桥上。伊拉克总统巴尔哈姆·萨利赫发誓要提前举行选举，以应对一个月来的致命抗议，但示威者表示，此举远未达到他们对政治改革的要求。

阿卜杜勒·迈赫迪一直关注着这个国家的政治两极分化，不断有谣言说他想辞职。隶属于新一代党的议员萨卡特·沙姆斯告诉记者新闻周刊在与伊拉克总统巴尔哈姆·萨利赫的会晤中，他几乎亲眼目睹了总理的绝望。

“当首相打电话给伊拉克总统并告诉他他完了时，我正在和他会面，”沙姆斯说，他描述了首相是如何“发现自己是孤独的，并且不知何故被那些发誓支持他的人背叛了。”

沙姆斯将骚乱归因于“什叶派团体之间的抗议和政治竞争”，但他指出，“毫无疑问，外国势力扮演着重要角色，伊朗直接扮演着重要角色。”他说，“沙特阿拉伯和美国可能会通过媒体宣传和推动伊拉克人物让事情变得更糟或更好来扮演间接角色。”

这位立法者告诉记者，随着形势日益严峻新闻周刊“我担心，如果组建新政府需要更长时间，政府辞职可能会引发武装冲突。”

 

DONALD TRUMP FACES NEW MIDEAST CRISIS AS 'IRAQ SPRING' UNREST THREATENS US AND IRAN'S HOLD ON REGION

Still reeling from recent events in Syria, President Donald Trump and his administration face a looming crisis in neighboring Iraq. In a country where thousands of U.S. troops have died and thousands more are still deployed, both the United States and rival Iran are backing an embattled prime minister as popular calls for his ouster could threaten their influence and lead to civil war.

The latest round of protests first emerged in Iraq in July 2018, about a year after former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in a campaign that united the Iraqi military, Iran-backed militias, a U.S.-led coalition and Kurdish forces. The unrest has pressured Abadi's successor, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, to the cusp of quitting.

While Iraqis are openly questioning if Abdul-Mahdi can bring unity and restore calm to Iraq, the Trump administration and some lawmakers support the current prime minister. A senior State Department official tells Newsweek, "The prime minister and the team that he has is a good government and probably the best we could have hoped for."

Some lawmakers agree. "Abdul-Mahdi is a friend. I hope he can straighten this out. I think he's a good guy, but corruption is rampant. Young people are tired of it. You see a backlash in Lebanon and you see a backlash in Iraq. Young people wanting their country to deliver better services and more hope," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told Newsweek. "I like Abdul-Mahdi, and I think he has the confidence of the Kurds and the Sunnis. But he's got to get his government to be more acceptable to younger Iraqis, and this is sort of a, you know, an 'Iraq Spring,' for lack of a better way of saying it."

The term "Iraq Spring" is a reference to the so-called "Arab Spring" wave of demonstrations that swept the Arab World in 2011 as a mass movement against long-standing leaders failing to address socioeconomic issues that disproportionately affected the region's youth. Once seen as a beacon of hope, however, these protests devolved into deadly civil wars in Libya, Syria and, later on, Yemen—cautionary tales cited by Shiite Muslim militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr in his latest warning designed to urge Abdul-Mahdi to leave.

Neither the U.S. nor Iran want this, however, as they try to assert their own influence through a fragile system now the target of a mass uprising.

 

Iraqi protesters burn items to block the road during clashes with security forces following an anti-government demonstration in the Islamic shrine city of Karbala, south of Iraq's capital Baghdad, on October 25. Two dozen demonstrators were reportedly killed in renewed rallies across Baghdad and Iraq's south today by live rounds and tear gas.

Abdul-Mahdi was elected last year as a compromise between influential rival militia leaders Sadr and Hadi al-Amiri. Sadr is threatening a no-confidence vote that could lead to a political breakdown as the top Sairoon coalition, of which Sadr was a member, entered the opposition amid worsening bloodshed. With large parts of the country's infrastructure still decimated, economic woes unaddressed and lingering security concerns, Iraqis from nearly all walks of life have taken to the streets, where reports have risen significantly in recent weeks of deadly clashes with security forces and various militias incorporated into the armed forces.

Iraq has suffered from decades of conflict, stemming back to a devastating eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, and two U.S. attacks in the next two decades, the latter of which saw the overthrow of longtime leader Saddam Hussein. The U.S. installed a new government, representing Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority as a deadly Sunni Muslim insurgency ravaged the country.

During this period, Sadr and Amiri led Iran-backed Shiite Muslim militias that targeted both U.S. troops, who withdrew from the country in 2011, and Al-Qaeda, which rebranded as ISIS and only grew in strength over time. Recent years saw U.S. forces and Sadr and Amiri's groups—known as Saraya al-Salam, formerly the Mahdi Army, and the Badr Organization, respectively, and now reorganized under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces—battling the jihadi organization that came to be known as ISIS.

When Iraq held its first elections since ISIS' defeat last year, Sadr's Sairoon alliance came out on top, followed by Amiri's Fatah bloc. Both men have ties to Iran, but the former has increasingly pushed back on Tehran's growing influence in Baghdad, as the latter embraced it.

Asked if any parties were instigating the deterioration in Iraq's security situation, Shirwan Mirza, an Iraqi Kurdish member of parliament affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), told Newsweek it was "not very clear, but Sadr and Abadi want this." Amiri initially signaled support for Abdul-Mahdi's ousting as well but appears to have changed his mind, possibly under the advice of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, a vastly influential figure in Iraq. Reuters cited multiple sources attesting to a recent meeting between the two men.

Iran has managed to take advantage of regional unrest to establish itself as an active player in nations like Syria, where U.S. lawmakers were still widely focused on Trump's decision to withdraw troops from the country's north, a move that sought to avoid a fight between two partners—Syrian Kurds that helped the Pentagon defeat ISIS and NATO ally Turkey that considers some Kurdish militias to be terrorist organizations. Even amid the fluid situation in Syria, however, more members of Congress were keeping an eye on Iraq, though there was little consensus as to what the U.S. strategy was or should be.

 

Iraqi Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (L); Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (C), the deputy chairman of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces and Hadi al-Amiri (R), who is in charge of the Shiite Muslim Badr Brigades, give a joint press conference on October 18, 2016 in the holy city of Najaf. The three men and their respective forces were crucial to defeating ISIS and were lated incorporated into the state's security apparatus.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia told Newsweek that "the instability and the protests in Iraq raise concern for a number of reasons."

"The key is that the Iraqis are partners of ours so the first thing is, what do they think would be helpful. The last thing we need to do—because sometimes our involvement can be cause for unrest by some, so we have to do that in a way that the Iraqi government, our partners, think would be helpful," Kaine said. "I don't yet know what they think would be helpful, if anything, so that's all part of trying to figure out what the plan is but the best way for this to happen is for the administration to come forward and 'Okay, here's what we see here's what we think a good plan is, now ask us questions challenge us on pieces of it, and we'll get to a better work product that way."

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq during the violent post-invasion period in Iraq and, while he felt the situation had yet to approach open conflict, he called for Abdul-Mahdi to resign before it did.

"This started, obviously, with a push by a lot of Iraqi citizens wanting a government that was less corrupt, more transparent and less abusive," Gallego told Newsweek. "At this point, this is starting to spread along sectarian lines, which is very dangerous. I think, honestly, that the Iraqi government is just going to have to resign itself and start new to keep the country together."

"I believe there could be a collapse of government," he added. "I don't think, necessarily, that leads to a civil war. I was in the middle of the last civil war, where there was an active Sunni uprising against the Shia-led government. I don't think that is where Iraq's history is right now, but I do think that there's going to have to be an overhaul in government."

Gallego argued that "these Iraqi citizens are also sick of the influence of Iran and Iran is, I think, afraid of losing more control over this Iraqi government. And unfortunately, I think they're going to try to influence the outcome, also."

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois similarly said he "shares the concerns over this political unrest in the region but also about the role that Iran has played in the strife here."

Iraq has been among the most volatile venues of the U.S.-Iran feud that has played out across the Middle East. The U.S. initially backed the Iraqi invasion of Iran that followed the latter's 1979 Islamic Revolution and—though the U.S. tacitly offered support to both sides of the conflict—came to view both countries as foes until regime change against Hussein made Baghdad an ally of both Washington and Tehran.

The U.S. and Iran overcame decades of diplomatic isolation in 2015 to forge the 2015 nuclear deal, an historic accord also endorsed by China, the European Union, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom. Last year, Trump unilaterally ditched this deal, setting off a cycle of tensions that have brought the U.S. and Iran to the brink of exchanging blows.

 

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi address advisers and members of his security forces amid widespread unrest, October 23. Though backed by both the U.S. and Iran, Abdul-Mahdi felt increasingly pressured by the Iraq people to resign.

The result has been a new air of hostility for the U.S. presence in Iraq, especially among the many Iran-backed militias now officially part of the state security apparatus. After apparent rocket attacks last year near Washington's embassy in Baghdad and consulate in Irbil, the State Department evacuated all non-emergency personnel, but about 5,000 troops on the frontlines of what may be a new intractable bout in the region.

Citing Iraqi sources, Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski of New Jersey described pulling these diplomats out as "the U.S. washing their hands of the country."

In a statement published shortly after Newsweek's article was published Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed Baghdad directly, saying that "the United States welcomes any serious efforts made by the Government of Iraq to address the ongoing problems in Iraqi society."

"The Government of Iraq should listen to the legitimate demands made by the Iraqi people who have taken to the streets to have their voices heard. The United States is closely monitoring the situation and from the beginning we have called on all sides to reject violence," Pompeo said. "The Government of Iraq's investigation into the violence in early October lacked sufficient credibility and the Iraqi people deserve genuine accountability and justice."

"As the efforts announced by President Salih begin, the recently imposed severe restrictions on freedom of the press and of expression must be relaxed," he added.
"Press freedom is inherent to democratic reform. The U.S. government continues to support Iraqi institutions, the Iraqi people, and Iraq's security, stability, and sovereignty."

Though the beleaguered Abdul-Mahdi has vowed to stay until Sadr and Amiri could come up with a replacement, one Iraqi intelligence official told Newsweek that his time may soon be up.

"The young Iraqi Shiite youth want overthrow PM Adel Abdul-Mahdi, the Iranians don't want to lose him," the official said. "The Iranians lost this battle, but they're far from losing the war."

"We are worried about the whole system of Iraq because of this unrest," Mirza told Newsweek. "It may cause that Turkey and Iran and even Saudi Arabia may intervene in Iraq and it may lead to the worst."

Mirza said the current situation was "the result of being guns in the hands of militias and the weakness of state in Iraq," along with the fact that "the USA did not support Adil Abdul-Mahdi and the Iraqi government to do good things for Iraqi people, especially after fighting ISIS."

As for the Kurds, who are largely split politically between the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in administering the north's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, Mirza said that, so far, they have managed to "act as one force," not "divided" in order "to defend the Kurdistan region."

"They are not with any militia," Mirza told Newsweek, only the peshmerga, the official Iraqi Kurdish self-defense forces. Asked if the Kurdish region was prepared to defend itself in the event of a crisis elsewhere in the country, he said, "it must be because, if the situation continues, we do not know what is the future of Iraq."

 

Iraqi protesters gather on Al-Jumhuriya bridge which leads to the high-security Green Zone, during ongoing anti-government demonstrations in the capital Baghdad on October 31. Iraqi President Barham Salih vowed to hold early elections in response to a month of deadly protests, but demonstrators said the move fell far short of their demands for a political overhaul.

Abdul-Mahdi has watched on as the country's politics polarized and persistent rumors have emerged regarding his desire to resign. Sarkawt Shams, a member of parliament affiliated with the New Generation party, told Newsweek he witnessed the prime minister's desperation nearly firsthand during a meeting with Iraqi President Barham Salih.

"I was meeting with the Iraqi president when the PM called him and told him that he is done," Shams said, describing how the prime minister "found himself alone and somehow betrayed by those who vowed to support him."

Shams ascribed the unrest to "protests and political rivalries among Shia Groups" but noted that "no doubt foreign powers play a huge role, Iran directly." He said "Saudi Arabia and the U.S. may play indirect roles through media campaigns and pushing Iraqi figures to either make things worse or better."

With the situation growing more dire by the day, the lawmaker told Newsweek, "I am concerned that a government resignation may open the door for armed conflict if forming a new government takes longer."