Custom Search

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Iraqi Sunnis end parliament boycott: Political Progress in Iraq

I wonder where the Democratic defeatists will try to move the goalposts this time, now that they have moved it from Harry "Baghdad" Reid's, "the surge is accomplishing noting militarily" was moved after the military has seen tremendous progress, it was moved to "but they aren't progressing politically according to "our arrogant time frame" and now that their goal post is at the far end of the field and there is no more room to push it back even more, where are they going to go?

How are they going to dig themselves out of the grave they have dug for themselves after they tossed the shovels out?

Better start getting your hands dirty Dems and start using them to dig, dig, dig your way out...although I guarantee you, we will not let you forget you bet against America, you deliberately tried to discourage and demoralize our troops, you deliberately tried to embolden our enemies.

We will not forget.

Neither will you be allowed to forget.

Iraqi Sunnis end parliament boycott: Political Progress in Iraq:

BAGHDAD - A secular Sunni bloc on Saturday ended its boycott of the parliament, giving a boost to national reconciliation just days ahead of key hearings in Washington to assess political progress in Iraq.

The move came as the commander of US-led forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said the country's war-weary leaders had largely failed to capitalize on gains achieved by a "surge" of troops deployed to quell the daily bloodshed.

The National Dialogue Front led by Sunni Arab politician Saleh al-Mutlak said in a statement that its 11 MPs had returned to the 275-seat legislature on Saturday after its demands were met.

"The government has agreed to allocate funds to displaced families... and it has agreed to delay negotiations on the oil law until after Ramadan," it said, referring to the Muslim fasting month due to begin next week.

"We are therefore today heeding the call of the Speaker to end our boycott."


As the surrender crowd try to plan for defeat, General Petraeus plans for victory. Since the good General is on the ground in Iraq, I tend to think he understands the challenges we face as well as the progress we have made and continue to make and the progress the embattled al-Maliki has been working on during the Iraq's parliament's heavily criticized "vacation" which has seen amazing amounts of work being done behind the scene.


Captain's Quarters states:

The Sunnis returned specifically as a result of the compromise reached by Nouri al-Maliki in late August. Their return allows the Assembly to work as intended -- by representing all major factions in a democratic fashion to craft the necessary reforms for Iraqi unity. It also shows that the compromise was a significant step forward for those reforms, allowing the Sunnis to completely re-engage through the political process.

It will still be slow going, although the Sunnis will get their first wish soon. De-Ba'athification reform will get addressed this week in the Assembly, which if passed will allow many more Sunnis to gain employment and become a part of the new Iraq. A win for the Sunnis on this point will give them confidence that their efforts in the Assembly can work to the benefit of their community, plus remove some of the stigma of their association with Saddam Hussein's tyrannical and genocidal reign.



Parliament which resumed last Tuesday is due in the coming months to review two controversial pieces of legislation -- one which will allow members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party back into positions of authority, the other which will determine how Iraq's oil revenues should be shared.

Washington sees resolution of the Baath party issue and the passage of the oil law as benchmarks to measure Iraq's progress towards political reconciliation that will eventually allow a withdrawal of US forces from the war-ravaged country.

No doubt the Democrats in our own Congress will continue to try to move the goal posts but their hopes of dividing the Republican party during their August recess has been blown to bits by their own politicians returning from Iraq with news of progress.

The Democrats have become even more divided and the Republicans have become even more united.

For the sake of argument, although the Democrats in Congress do not have the votes to demand any time lines or withdrawal dates and Harry Reid, who is stinking with the odor of desperation and fear, is trying to "compromise" now, lets just say they did have the votes to reach the 60 vote threshold, they certainly do not have near enough votes to over ride a presidential veto.

They cannot even manage to get to 60...two thirds is a complete fantasy and they know it, especially since a few of their own anti-war Democratic politicians are pushing to give Petraeus and our troops more time.


Good for the Sunni's, good for al-Maliki and good for Iraq!!!!!!


(NOTE: Instead of leaving you with the advertisements I usually have at the bottom of each post, I will leave you with one of the videos from Freedoms Watch) [30 second video.]


Wounded Veteran:



.