All Sunni Ministers Now Boycotting Iraqi Government
By Logan Murphy Monday Aug 06, 2007 11:47amAP Via Yahoo:
Iraq's political crisis worsened Monday as five more ministers announced a boycott of Cabinet meetings — leaving the embattled prime minister's unity government with no members affiliated with Sunni political factions.
Meanwhile, a suicide bomber killed at least 28 people in a northern city, including 19 children, some playing hopscotch and marbles in front of their homes. And the American military reported five new U.S. deaths: Four soldiers were killed in a combat explosion in restive Diyala province north of the capital Monday, and a soldier was killed and two were wounded during fighting in eastern Baghdad on Sunday.
Despite the new U.S. accusations of Iranian meddling, the U.S. and Iranian ambassadors met Monday for their third round of talks in just over two months. A U.S. embassy spokesman called the talks between U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and his counterpart, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, "frank and serious."
The Cabinet boycott of five ministers loyal to former Iraqi leader Ayad Allawi left the government, at least temporarily, without participants where were members of the Sunni political apparatus — a deep blow to the prime minister's attempt to craft reconciliation among the country's majority Shiites and minority Sunnis and Kurds. Read more...
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Frist!
How many more U.S. soldiers have to die so that George W. Bush doesn't have to admit he fucked up badly?
what, no mention of the schools that have been painted in anbar???
(/sarcasm off)
How's that Splurge working out for ya' Georgie Boy?
And just who has their hands on those 110,000 AK47's?
I sense a Medal of Freedom ceremony quickly approaching.
Juan Cole has an insightful analysis on Salon today. According to Cole, the Maliki government has lost the confidence of its key political allies.
Regarding the surge, he concludes:
"What has surged is not calm or political compromise, but rather the number of guerrilla attacks, the number of U.S. troop deaths compared to the same months in previous years, and the number of Iraqi casualties."
How 'bout we boycott our "government"?
where does david petraeus factor into this equation? correct me if i am wrong, but petraeus and maliki have been at each other's throats for awhile b/c of petraeus' decision to arm the sectarian sunnis--expressly against the wishes of maliki. has petraus' 'strategy' further undermined maliki's fragile hold on power?
what has been saudi arabia's reaction?
What's up with these guys and boycotting their government? Didn't they boycott some election a long time ago then got all pissed because none of their people got elected?
A non working democratic government is clearly in place, George. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Can we go home now?
Get the hell outta there now! The occupation of Iraq needs to be ended now.
Targeting children. Fucking losers.
This is all on your head, George, you stupid fratboy.
How can we fix the government over there when we can't fix the government over here?
Georgette Orwell @ 12:
The Iraqis are doing a perfect imitation of our do-nothing government.
Here's a suggestion, why not send all the Repugs and the Dems that caved on the FISA bill over to Iraq to "fill in" for the missing Sunnis?
Hell, they have the rest of the month off anyway so why not make 'em work for their taxpayer-supported paychecks?
This should come as no surprise to anyone with a little common sense.
A collapsing government is a sign of the success of the surgescalation.
-GSD
Sunni ministers boycotting their own gov't? Well that'll be easy. Aren't they on VACATION right now?
I would bet the biggest disagreements are the distribution of oil revenues, where the oil companies want 80% of the revenues.
Boycott…vacation… whatever. This occupation is a wreck.
Nice planning Chimp & Co.
Surge Shmurge...that's so May 2007.
In the works for Petraeus' war evaluation in September: It will take 20+ years to stabilize and christianize Bushunni , the tentative new name for Iraq.
Too bad we can't boycott our government.
Oops, that sounds sexist.
Too bad we can't girlcott our government.
Great, that sounds sexy.
We are making great progress against Al Queda, every last Sunni Al Queda operative has been chased from the government, and only peaceful Iranian stooges are left.
Maybe we'll arm al Qaeda next.
How many, many times have we head ALL of this administration say, over and over
again, that "this war cannot be won militarily, but must be won with an establishment
of a recognized and legitmate government in control"? We know the "surge" is not
working and this article is further evidence of the Iraqis Gov. is broke, so why oh why is the
Pentagon/Defense Dept/bush-lite continuing to allow our fine men and women serving
in uniform to be killed and mamed each and every passing day? Wait until Sept. 15th???
Why, nothing will have changed or improved and yet more and more of our military
and innocent civilians are suffering the consequences. WTF will it take to end this
ill advised and illegal occupation as the body count continues to climb...
"who needs Sunnis? Things are going great in Iraq! 1 hour of electricity a day is all you need in life!"-Michael O'Hanlon
Ron @ 18:
So very true....and remember how Wolfishits/dickhead/bush-lite/et.al have told us from
day-one that this war will be paid for by Iraq itself; with oil revenues. Already, it has
cost us(U.S. Citizens) in excess of $500 BILLION.
I'd REALLY like someone in the misadministration to detail all the "good stuff" and the "progress" we've made in the country formerly named Iraq.
Electricity? Output is STILL below pre-invasion levels; same for oil production. Running water? Who knows.
Guns & munitions -- check! LOTS more than before we invaded.
I thought we'd trained 200,000 Iraqi troops (er, security forces) about 2 years ago. No? That's right, that was just more propaganda!
I ran into Fiddling Poet Ken Waldman last week at a music festival in West Virginia. I got a copy of his "untouchable" new book of poems seeded by George Bush's own words.
This post brought this sonnet to mind...
George W. Bush: On Iraq
There’s nothing to say but what’s been said.
We’re winning. Everyday shows more progress.
We’re moving to a position of less
Troops. The insurgency is almost dead.
There’s democracy- an elected head
of state. Saddam’s out. No one has to guess
the ultimate outcome. It’s been tough, yes.
Very, very tough. I tell you I’ve prayed
A great deal for our brave men and women,
And I’ve been distressed at the loss of life.
This effort has shown true American
grit. We’re making the world safer. My wife,
Laura, thanks me every night for having
The courage. No, we will not be leaving.
Ken Waldman
Ken Waldman, also known as Alaska’s Fiddling Poet, has written his sixth poetry collection, As the World Burns – The Sonnets of George W. Bush and Other Poems of the 43rd Presidency. The former college professor deftly takes G.W.’s own words to create and develop some brilliant sonnet sequences that accentuate the man’s hypocrisy, arrogance, and intellectual shallowness.
Waldman has made his living since 1994 on tour as a minstrel performing his unique combination of Appalachian-style fiddling, storytelling, and original poetry. No one will touch this highly political collection of works and the guy can’t find anyone brave enough to sell it.
Any ideas?
You can find the book and more info at www.KenWaldman.com
Things in Iraq are going GREAT!!!!!
What are you going to tell me next, that Iraq is in a civil war? Please!
As to the trials and tribulaltions within the Iraqis Gov....maybe one of bush-lite's quotes
is applicable:
"I hope we get to the bottom of the answer."
Let's see, arming Sunni tribesman at the same time the Sunnis pull out of the government, hmmm... anyone see all out civil war coming here, fought with American weapons on both sides?
The question that will never be answered if how much our presence prevented the Iraqis from seeking earlier compromises.
What government?
What exactly is there for the Sunnis to bycott?
I think this is good news. Al Maliki's government is not representing the Sunni interests - its a Shiite government, not a unity government. In the new session of parliament, there will have to be a new coalition of parties.
Thanks for the link, Mark @ 15. That's some good writing.
I think Juan Cole has good insight on this stuff:
http://www.juancole.com/
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