(CNN) -- United States leaders have rightly said that defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and resolving Iraq's deepening civil war will require urgent political change in Baghdad. But the military assistance that Iran and Russia are speeding to Shiite groups in Iraq imperils that change. It now appears that a majority of Iraq's political parties and Shiite religious authorities blame Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's authoritarian tendencies and exclusion of mainstream Sunni groups for the crisis, and they seek his replacement as the starting point for resolving it. But just as this political majority has begun to form against him, Iran and Russia have extended al-Maliki material and political support that insulates him from domestic political pressure and may even embolden him to try to stay on.
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Writers: Iran, Russia aid to Iraq imperils U.S. call for al-Maliki to make Iraq government inclusive
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Thus Al-Maliki is less likely to leave or to stop shunning Sunnis, they say
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They say Iran helps al-Maliki return "worst of the worst" to key positions to oppress Sunnis
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Writers: Tehran will see reforms U.S. wants as limits on Iranian influence
It began to wane in 2010 when the U.S. ceded our leverage in favor of "smart power," believing that reasonable @placeholder minds would prevail.