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New Iraqi Government Approved
American Forces Press Service ^ | Jim Garamone

Posted on 05/20/2006 1:56:32 PM PDT by SandRat

BAGHDAD, May 20, 2006 – In a watershed day in Iraqi history, the country's Parliament today approved 39 ministers and state secretaries that form the elected, representative government.

Click photo for screen-resolution image

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announces his new Cabinet in the Baghdad convention center May 20. Multinational Force Iraq photo  

The Parliament confirmed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's choices for the Iraqi national unity government. The 37-member Cabinet contains representatives from all major parties and all major ethnic and secular groups.

Following the vote, the ministers took their oath of office during a session broadcast throughout Iraq. The Parliament met at the Baghdad convention center.

The vote followed months of political discussions following the Dec. 15, 2005, national elections. Still, parties have not agreed on ministers of defense, minister interior and national security.

Al-Maliki, a Shiite Arab, will serve as acting interior minister, whose responsibilities include the police in Iraq. Al-Maliki also appointed Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zaubai, a Sunni Arab, as interim defense minister. Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a Kurd, will be acting state secretary for national security.

With the approval, the constitution the Iraqi people approved Oct. 15, 2005, takes full effect. "Today, the Iraqis have established complete control over their nation," said Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the deputy chief of staff for strategic effects for Multinational Force Iraq.

"They are now in the lead and the U.S. government is just in support of that," he said. "They are the authoritative decision-making body in this country and anything we do from here on, we will have to do in consultation with the legitimate government authority."

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said he is pleased the Iraqis now have a democratically elected government. The embassy looks forward to working with the new ministers to build a free and secure Iraq, he said. He anticipates the new government will have an effect on the number of coalition troops in the country, but feels it is too early to say.

"The current size of our forces, the composition of our forces, the current missions of our forces are not ends in themselves for us," Khalilzad said during a news conference at the Ocean Cliffs press center. "Iraqi self-reliance and increasing security for Iraqis is."

Khalilzad said that with the political changes, especially the Iraqi emphasis on unity and reconciliation, the security situation in the country will improve. He said effective ministers will help breed the atmosphere that will allow the United States and other coalition nations to draw down their troop numbers.

The ambassador hastened to add he believed that with the political changes taking place - with the emphasis on unity - the United States will only draw down troop numbers if conditions on the ground warrant it.

Al-Maliki told Parliament that he would make restoring stability and security top priorities. He stressed the importance of capable and loyal military and police forces.

He said he wants to set an "objective timetable" for withdrawal of coalition forces after Iraqi forces develop the capabilities to maintain order in the country. He said he will stress security in the greater Baghdad area and work to increase the amount of electricity available in the capital.

The Cabinet includes three women: Human Rights Minister Wejdan Mikhail, State Secretary for Women's Rights Faten Abdelrahmane Mahmoud, and Environment Minister Narmine Othman.

Al-Maliki chose Hussein Shahristani as oil minister. Former Interior Minister Bayan Jabr Solagh will serve as finance minister. Hoshyar Zebari will serve as foreign minister, and Abdelfalah al-Sudani will serve as commerce minister. The justice minister is Hashem al-Shibli.

Other ministers are Industry Minister Fawzi Hariri; Hydraulic Resources Minister Latif Rashid; Construction and Housing Minister Bayan Dzeyyi; Communication Minister Mohammed Tawfik Allawi; Science and Technology Minister Raed Fahmi Jahed; Higher Education Minister Abed Diab al-Ujali; Planning Minister Ali Baban; and Culture Minister Assaad Kamal al-Hashemi.

Also approved were:

  • Health Minister Ali al-Shemri
  • Youth and Sports Minister Jassem Jaafer
  • Transport Minister Karim Mehdi Saleh
  • Education Minister Khodeir al-Khuzai
  • Work and Social Affairs Minister Mahmud Jawad al-Radi Electricity Minister Karim Wahid
  • Municipalities and Public Works Minister Ryad Ghraib
  • State Secretary for Provincial Affairs Saad Taher al-Hashemi
  • State Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs Safa al-Safi
  • State Secretary for National Dialogue Akram al-Hakim Agriculture Minister Yorob Nazem al-Abbudi
  • State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Rafeh al-Issawi
  • State Secretary for Civil Affairs Adel al-Assadi
  • State Secretary for Tourism and Archaeology Minister Liwa Smeyssem
  • Immigrants Minister Abdelsamad Rahman Sultan
  • State Secretary Mohammed Abbas al-Oraibi
  • State Secretary Hassan al-Sari
  • State Secretary Ali Mohammed Ahmed.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: approved; government; iraq; iraqi; iraqielection; iraqipm; maliki; new; rebuildingiraq; victory
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To: SandRat
No doubt the Dems and anti-war creeps are bummed out to see Bush's plan succeeding in Iraq.
21 posted on 05/20/2006 3:57:25 PM PDT by Jorge
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To: SandRat

This is not news worthy! No blood, no guts, no bombs. What a waste of print. (sarc off)

We are winning and the msn could care less. What a bunch of s@#t bird as#*#les!!


22 posted on 05/20/2006 5:45:31 PM PDT by hiramknight (going to war without France is like going hunting without an accordian...Schwarpskoff)
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To: SandRat

As always, we can depend on SRNN (SandRat News Network) to get the word out to us that the MSM will not.

I noticed two things about this story:
1.) It was number three on the CNN website below Scumbag Bonds homerun and the New Orleans election.

2.) The CNN article was EXTREMELY negative.


23 posted on 05/20/2006 6:57:44 PM PDT by rlmorel ("Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
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To: Jorge
and my response to

No doubt the Dems and anti-war creeps are bummed out to see Bush's plan succeeding in Iraq.

GOOD!!!


24 posted on 05/20/2006 9:45:15 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: SandRat
New Iraqi Government Approved
American Forces Press Service ^ | Jim Garamone



Has this been reported by the "drive-By" L.S.M. ???
25 posted on 05/20/2006 9:50:37 PM PDT by danamco
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To: rlmorel
As always, we can depend on SRNN (SandRat News Network) to get the word out to us that the MSM will not.

SRNN


26 posted on 05/20/2006 9:57:25 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: danamco

Only that it happened with a big BUTT MONKEY for the bombings that went on today with the appropriate whining about whay they haven't got control yet.


27 posted on 05/20/2006 10:01:08 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: danamco

Here's how the Arizona Red Star er,... Daily Star is reporting it.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- After five months of often bitter wrangling over Cabinet posts, Iraq's unity government took office Saturday and vowed to fight the insurgency, restore stability and set the stage for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops.

The new permanent government resulting from December's elections in which 12 million Iraqis participated has been portrayed by Western officials as the best hope for changing the dynamics of violence in Iraq. But it must expand control and persuade insurgents, assassins and militias to stand down, with no guarantee of success.

President Bush, who is facing rising criticism at home over Iraq, welcomed the new Cabinet and promised continued U.S. help.

"The United States and freedom-loving nations around the world will stand with Iraq as it takes its place among the world's democracies and as an ally in the war on terror," Bush said in a statement.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad repeated U.S. cautions against expectations of a quick pullout of the 132,000-strong American military contingent. But, he added, "strategically, we're going to be moving in the direction of downsizing our forces."

As the Cabinet was sworn in, at least 33 people were killed in a series of attacks across Iraq, and police found the bodies of 22 Iraqis who apparently had been kidnapped and tortured by death squads that plague the capital and other areas.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the others on the 40-member Cabinet took the oath of office inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, where American and Iraqi troops provide security from the turmoil sweeping the country.

After a two-hour delay, reportedly because of last-minute wrangling over some Cabinet posts, legislators dressed in suits or traditional Arab robes slowly filed into the parliament chamber. Outgoing members of the interim legislature greeted each other with kisses to the cheeks.

The vote of approval went quickly, with parliament members elected in Dec. 15 elections waving raised hands to ratify al-Maliki's nominees one by one.

"Despite all the attempts to disrupt the political process they have a government, a government ... of national unity for the first time," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

Blair said coalition soldiers hoped to transfer their duties to Iraqis as soon as possible, but that British troops would remain in Iraq for as long as they were needed.

"The timetable is governed by the job being done. The new prime minister today made it very clear he, like us, wants to see Iraq in control of its own destiny," Blair said.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Saturday that the new government would begin planning the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq next week. Japanese media reported Sunday that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will discuss plans to withdraw troops from Iraq at a June summit with Bush, and the start of the pullout could be in July.

Koizumi, however, later declined to say when - or if - Japan would would withdraw its troops, saying the government was still discussing it. "Even if Japanese troops do pull out from Iraq, assistance will continue in other areas," he told reporters.

Al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim who spent years in exile in Syria during Saddam Hussein's regime, promised that restoring security would be his top priority.

"The first challenge we face is security and how to deal with the terrorist killers who are destroying the country and shedding the blood of the Iraqi people," he said.

He outlined a 34-point plan to bring security, implement the rule of law and restore basic services like electricity - now available for only four hours a day in the capital.

In a sign of the divisions that held up forming the government, al-Maliki could not work out an agreement on the Cabinet's three posts responsible for security and had to appoint himself and two deputy prime ministers to temporarily hold those positions.

Al-Maliki, who has a reputation as a hard-liner, was chosen by the dominant Shiite bloc after Sunni and Kurdish parties refused to accept Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for a second term as head of government. U.S. officials also opposed al-Jaafari, viewing him as ineffectual. Nevertheless, Al-Maliki, 55, is politically close to al-Jaafari and largely untested as an administrator.

Hussain al-Shahristani, the Shiite Muslim chosen as oil minister, promised to increase oil production and give all Iraqis a share.

"For every Iraqi, a share in the oil wealth," al-Shahristani said.

As for the three unfilled posts, al-Maliki said he would be acting interior minister for now, and he tapped his Sunni Arab deputy prime minister, Salam Zikam al-Zubaie, as temporary defense minister. Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a Kurd, will be acting minister of state for national security.

The new prime minister hopes to fill the jobs with politicians who are independent and have no affiliation with any of Iraq's sectarian militias, which are blamed for the sharp rise in Shiite-Sunni bloodshed that has raised fears of civil war.

The greatest drama of the day underlined the difficulties al-Maliki faces in calming those sectarian passions.

Sunni Arab lawmaker Saleh al-Mutlaq demanded the government's swearing-in be postponed until the security ministries were allotted, delivering an angry speech that lasted nearly 10 minutes before the microphone was taken away. Then he and about 10 other Sunni deputies from his Arab nationalist faction stalked out in protest.

Much more than restoring security is at stake for the government and the United States, which designed and engineered much of the transition to democracy in the three years since it invaded Iraq and set the stage for al-Maliki's coalition of Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

Ashraf Qazi, the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's envoy in Iraq, urged the new government to "undertake a major reconstruction of Iraq's political and social fabric."

"Iraq's citizens deserve nothing less and have every right to expect that competent, transparent government would yield improvements both in terms of public security and in the delivery of public services," Qazi said.

Many analysts fear the country's violence has assumed some characteristics of an irregular civil war, including targeted assassinations, sectarian bombings and armed groups seeking power and attacking the central government and its employees.

Many of Iraq's insurgent groups are led by Sunni Arabs, and a goal of the new government is to win the support of that formerly dominant minority and to recruit as many of them as possible into Iraq's security forces - especially in insurgent strongholds like western Anbar province.

One of Saturday's attacks, a suicide car bombing at a police station that killed at least five people, took place in Anbar city of Qaim.

In the day's deadliest assault, 19 people died when a bomb hidden in a paper bag exploded in Baghdad's Sadr City district next to a line of day laborers waiting for work.


28 posted on 05/20/2006 10:25:23 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: SandRat

and anything we do from here on, we will have to do in consultation with the legitimate government authority."



Hopefully that General means we will tell them we are going to do something - then do it. I don't want our troop's safety dependent on this "No Law Shall Contradict Islam" government's political debate. They need to trust US .. we are the ones that have given them... Sadham in jail.


29 posted on 05/21/2006 8:26:42 AM PDT by TomasUSMC ((FIGHT LIKE WW2, FINISH LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM.))
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