Iraqi Prime Minister Mouri al-Maliki is rejecting calls to form an emergency “National Salvation Government” to deal with the threat of fundamentalist Sunni insurgents who’ve taken control of much of north and eat of the country.

Maliki is forming a new cabinet, but it will be one of his own choosing.  The US and others have urged him to be more inclusive of Iraq’s other factions.  Maliki’s shutting-out of the Sunni majority is seen as a major factor in the rise of the Sunni insurgents fighting under the banner Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).  Not every Sunni in the north is a fundamentalist, but most as angered over Maliki’s rule.

The Sunni are quickly robbing Iraq of its only asset, oil.  ISIS overran the Ajeel oil site, which is located 30 kilometers east of Tikrit.  It produces 28,000 barrels per day, and has pipelines that connect it to Turkey and to Baiji, the gem of Iraq’s gasoline economy – which is controlled by ISIS.