BAGHDAD (AP) – Iraq's Western-backed government — facing intense pressure to address security lapses after suicide bombings killed 127 people in the capital — ordered a shake-up Wednesday in the country's military leadership.

The angry mood that led Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to replace Baghdad's top military commander reveals a stark psychological shift among Iraqis who once accepted such violence as routine and are now demanding someone pay a political price.

Al-Maliki appealed for Iraqis to be patient as he signaled more changes might be ahead for security officials. The prime minister was expected to attend a special parliamentary session Thursday, where lawmakers demanded his security ministers answer for lapses that allowed for the attacks.

"I call on the Iraqi people for more patience and steadfastness," al-Maliki said in a televised address.

It was unclear whether the replacement of Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar would quiet outraged lawmakers, who are questioning how suicide bombers managed to launch multiple attacks Tuesday in heavily guarded central Baghdad. The blasts wounded more than 500.

Much of al-Maliki's appeal was aimed at calming anger that has united Iraq's ethnic and sectarian rivals — from Kurd to Arab, Shiite to Sunni — with their calls on Iraq's interior and defense ministers to resign.

"They have proved failures," said Saadi al-Barzanji, a Kurdish lawmaker.

Even the group that Iraq has accused of masterminding this week's bombings as well as two previous major attacks has called on security officials to step down.

"He who cannot ensure security for Iraqis should leave," Baath party spokesman Khudair al-Murshidi told Al-Jazeera in an interview from Syria. Al-Murshidi has denied that loyalists of Saddam Hussein's Baath party were behind any of the attacks.

Top security officials have twice failed to appear after being called before lawmakers. Those request followed suicide bombings against government buildings Aug. 19 and Oct. 25. More than 250 were killed in the earlier attacks.

Ayad al-Samarrie, the parliament speaker, on Tuesday again called on the ministers and others to appear before legislators, said Omar al-Mashhadani, the speaker's spokesman.

Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said he would attend the session only if it was not held behind closed doors, according to a statement released by his office. It was not clear whether his demand was met or whether other officials would attend. Security matters have typically been discussed in parliament in closed session.

The political fallout provides a sharp contrast to what occurred following attacks that produced equal or greater devastation in previous years in Baghdad. At the height of the insurgency, tens of thousands died in street fighting and bombing attacks with virtually no calls for resignations.

During the address on state television, al-Maliki said Iraq's security strategies would be reviewed and possible personnel changes made. He stopped short of saying whether any of his ministers would be held responsible.