My Quote:
of course, old habits die hard, so the latest AP piece wanted to hedge their bets by mentioning this:
Despite U.S. pressure, Iraq's parliament went on vacation for a month after failing to pass either legislation to share the nation's oil wealth or to reconcile differences among the factions. And nearly all Sunni representatives in the government have quit, undermining the legitimacy of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite.
I am glad they did. We, too, are a nation at war, and OUR own Congress, while having the Defense Authorization Bill sitting on their desk, because Harry Reid, in a fit of pique, decided to take it off the table when he could not win enough to support to try to force time lines into it, well, our Congress is taking a month off also.
Personally I think the Iraqi politicians should have done this last month... ever heard the expression "go to your corners"?
Well, our military still has not finished securing that country, there are many parts where they must go in and duplicate the successes and progress they are seeing now in other areas and I do not know how many of us have said, how many times, that SECURITY must come before political progress can be made.
So, with the tensions running high between the Iraqi Politicans, maybe they all need to just go to their corners, work behind the scenes (as our own politicians are doing), take a deep breath and calm down so when they come back, assuming the security situation continues seeing the progress they are seeing, they have a chance to get some important work done.
So, what do we see today?
Iraq plans government crisis conference
BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister called a crisis conference in a bid to open a dialogue Tuesday among Iraq's divided factions, shore up his shaky government and unstick the stalled political process.
The U.S. military, meanwhile, pressed its crackdown on violence, announcing a new offensive against extremists on both sides of the sectarian divide — an operation called Phantom Strike to build on the successes during recent offensives in Baghdad and surrounding areas.
The American statement singled out Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaida in Iraq and said the Shiite extremists were being backed by Iran. The military has stepped up its rhetoric recently against Iran, which is accused of supplying militias with arms and training to attack U.S. forces. Iran denies the allegations.
The military statement did not give details but said U.S. forces would increase pressure on al-Qaida and its Sunni militant allies and rogue Shiite militiamen nationwide. Many of those fighters have fled the six-month-old crackdown in Baghdad and central Iraq and were believed to be trying to operate farther afield.
"My intent is to continue to pressure AQI and other extremist elements throughout Iraq to reduce their capabilities," said the U.S. second-in-command, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno.
Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki called for the crisis meeting during a news conference Sunday and said he hoped it could take place in the next two days as he faces growing impatience with his government's perceived Shiite bias and failure to achieve reconciliation or to stop the sectarian violence threatening to tear the country apart.
It was a limited invite, including President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a moderate Sunni, Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, and Massoud Barzani, the leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
But each leader wields strong influence over their respective sect or ethnic group and the move appeared to be a bid by al-Maliki to sideline his staunchest opponents by bringing moderates into the fold.
A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said the five officials would meet Tuesday to try to come up with a blueprint on how to pull the government out of its crisis and reach agreement on divisive issues such as sharing Iraq's oil riches and de-Baathification.
The prime minister also threatened to isolate the political blocs who have boycotted his Cabinet, suggesting they could be replaced by local Sunni tribal leaders who have recently formed alliances and joined U.S.-led efforts against al-Qaida in Iraq.
Goes to show, people jump first and look where they are jumping later, they criticized the Iraqi government for what "appeared" to be, without giving them credit for working behind the scenes so that when Parliament came back into session they could actually get something done on the political front.
In the meantime, Debbie at Right Truth brings us more news about Iraq. It seems that Iran's moneyman in Iraq has been arrested.
Go read about it.
Then head over to Amy Proctor's Bottom Line Up Front and see what a captured Iraqi terrorist has to say.
Fascinating.
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