Posted on 02/16/2008 10:30:07 PM PST by skully
Iraq's parliamentarians have been painfully slow in seizing the opportunity provided by the success of the U.S. military surge to advance political reconciliation. But, as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates observed during his swift visit to Baghdad last weekend, over the past few weeks they finally appear to have become energized. On Wednesday, parliament proved that he was correct by passing three key laws in one package.
The package included the crucial 2008 budget, an amnesty that will lead to the release of thousands of prisoners and approval of a law giving power to the provinces that will also authorize provincial elections to be held by Oct. 1. Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani proclaimed triumphantly, "We have proven today that Iraqis are just one bloc." The achievement was that much more impressive because only a day earlier he had threatened to dissolve parliament after scores of lawmakers stormed out of the legislature to prevent a vote because of a dispute over procedure.
(Excerpt) Read more at charleston.net ...
Only an historical illiterate would write something like this.
Iraqis are basically unruly children, that’s why saddam had to rule them with an iron fist.
As are the Americans, and certainly the French.
[. . .only a day earlier he (the Speaker)had threatened to dissolve parliament after scores of lawmakers stormed out of the legislature to prevent a vote because of a dispute over procedure.]
This is the way democracy works. In the U.S., Republican House members walked out of Congress Thursday to protest Democrat contempt citations against administration officials.
Iraq is also producing more than 2 million barrels of oil a day and by the end of the year should be on par with Venezuela. The progress in Iraq in less than 5 years is miraculous.
Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/12/AR2008021202350.html
Sarcasm?
Progress in Iraq ping.
You have it backwards. They are unruly children because they were ruled with an iron fist and never made to think for themselves. Most of the Arab/Muslim world is like this.
Your comment can only be summed up as sympathy for the devil. Saddam ruled the Iraqi "children" for his personal plunder and his megalomania. You either don't care about the suffering of others under a dictator or you're a very flippant person.
Actually, they aren't "unruly children" at all. Considering their history, they're getting with the program rather quickly. I daresay their Parliament is no less organized than our own Congress.
This is only surmise : Gates told them we’ll be leaving with our soldiers and aid money REALFAST if they don’t get their act together REALFAST. That got their attention REALFAST. They can haggle in their political bazaar all day long...but Gates/Bush are SERIOUS about their disunity, pulling the plug may be the only way they’ll LISTEN.
Balderdash.
There will always be those who say we're out of here, but saying that is one thing, doing it is entirely different.
Perhaps South Korea should have been abandoned early on, or Germany and Europe for that matter.
We can always pull the plug if we wish, our history suggests we should not.
And you have been working with the Iraqi government on the transition for how long?
I hope you can asnwer that question REALFAST.
I think you're confusing "surmise" with speculation. You can guess whatever you like, but that's not proof or evidence. I know someone who was there who didn't put it that way.
Thank you for your input. I will give it all the consideration it merits.
Agree 100%.
It’s a matter of cutting the apron strings. It’s been years now since we put an end to saddam and his thugs and all we’ve got in the parliament is ego-driven teeny boppers. Divide and conquer is the old british axiom, why do you think iraq’s borders look so funny? After the turkish empire collapsed in WWI a british officer drew them that way. With 50 warring tribes a dictator, a saddam, is inevitable. Are we being too naive to think a working democracy is possible there?
One thing is certain, vast amounts of american blood and treasure have been poured into iraq. It’s economic infrastructure had been left to rot by saddam, now it’s billions after billions poured down that rat hole and we’re in a recession as the stimulus package illustrates.
Thus the equation for tax paying americans is real simple : continue to pour treasure down iraqi throats, who show they don’t deserve it with a fractious government and corruption; vs money to help out own country in a recession.
This is the driver of the anti-war vote, pumping vast monies into a people that will be just as screwed up into the future as in the past. Bush/Gates feel that american frustration and are going to be doing troop drawdowns very fast, cut the apron strings and iraq sinks or swims on its own now.
Yes, we still have troops in germany, korea, japan but those countries RUN their own countries and we are NOT their main security element nor banker; iraq either joins those elite countries as a 21st century equal, or descends back into jihad savagery of 1000 years ago. It’s tipping point time : either shoulder to shoulder unity/order, or chaos. No more american apron strings, the voters are saying ENOUGH ALREADY, as you’ll hear in the campaign.
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