Ousting Iraqi President al-Maliki?

AP is reporting that talks are well underway to "fire" and replace the new Iraqi President al-Maliki, citing him to blame for rising violence (uh... he's been in power a very short time compared to say... oh, the Bush occupation folks).

I find it interesting that this talk has really picked up after the whole debacle where Bush criticized al-Maliki, then al-Maliki didn't show for their meeting, then the two did get together but...

Anyone else question this or how much the U.S. is involved in removing an "elected" Iraqi leader?