Iraqi Parliament passes 3 crucial laws

DuH2 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 03:13 PM

Quote:

BAGHDAD: Using old-fashioned politicking behind the scenes, Iraqi parliamentary leaders on Wednesday pushed through three divisive laws that had been held up for months by bitter maneuvering between factions and, recently, threats to dissolve the legislative body.

The three laws are the 2008 budget, a law outlining the scope of provincial powers - a crucial aspect of Iraq's self-definition as a federal state - and an amnesty that will cover thousands of the detainees held in Iraqi jails. They were put to a vote as a single package.

"The Iraqi Parliament has approved the three laws, and this is the greatest achievement possible for the Iraqi people," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, the Sunni lawmaker who leads the Iraqi Consensus Front.

Khalid al-Attiya, the deputy speaker and a Shiite, beamed as he told reporters right after the vote on Wednesday afternoon that the laws had passed unanimously.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/13/africa/iraq.php

Good news from Iraq just keeps coming.

1 Year after the Surge was approved/started and the effects of it are undeniable.

Oh just to rub salt..and here I thought there was no poltical reconcilition of any kind and the government of Iraq especially ther Parliamnent was nothing but a failure. It was never true this just rehighlights that it never was..big time.

Underlined gets thrown around here alot.
Pelosi is a liar and so is Reid.

"Stay the Course"

JMS · #2 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 03:19 PM

"this is the greatest achievement possible for the Iraqi people"

this is the ultimate good news. looks like we can leave now!

lol, just keeps coming. we should hear about them finding the wmd the war was about any minute now! good times.

DuH2 · #3 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Bulgarian parliament approves extending troops mandate in Iraq Thu Feb 14, 5:18 AM ET

SOFIA (AFP) - Bulgaria's parliament approved on Thursday extending the mandate of its contingent of peacekeepers in Iraq until the end of the year.

ADVERTISEMENT

The decision envisages the dispatching of a total of 155 troops, including 120 peacekeepers and 35 supporting military personnel, to rotate with the contingent now guarding the Ashraf camp for Iranian refugees, 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Baghdad.

The extenion was already approved by the centre-left government in December but will only enter into force after the United Nations Security Council adopts a new resolution extending the mandate of the US-led multinational force in Iraq.

Sofia withdrew its 360-strong military contingent at the end of 2005, after losing 13 soldiers and six civilians in Iraq, but then decided in March last year to begin contributing peacekeeping and humanitarian troops to the US-led multinational force.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080214...litarybulgaria

BillyBob · #4 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMS

we should hear about them finding the wmd the war was about any minute now! good times.

WMD was only a peripheral part of the reason we invaded Iraq.

JMS · #5 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 04:09 PM

no, it was the primary reason.

Blade · #6 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 04:32 PM

This is a great step, and one more in the march to a stable democratic arab government in the middle east, with all that implies for the good in that region and the world.

DuH2 · #7 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Lawmakers Pass Provincial Election Law
Iraq Sets Stage For New Provincial Elections In October; Washington Applauds Move

BAGHDAD, Feb. 13, 2008
(AP) Parliament cleared the way Wednesday for provincial elections this year that could give Sunnis a stronger voice and usher in vast changes to Iraq's power structure.

The new law _ which set the vote for Oct. 1 _ is one of the most sweeping reforms pushed by the Bush administration and signals that Iraq's politicians finally, if grudgingly, may be ready for small steps toward reconciliation.

Passage of benchmark reforms on healing the country's sectarian and ethnic rifts _ along with a reduction in violence _ were the primary goals of the 30,000-strong U.S. troop increase that President Bush ordered early last year.

Violence has dropped significantly, but political progress languished until the logjam broke Wednesday by the narrowest of margins. Before the vote, the only significant measure to emerge from parliament had been a law that allows reinstatement to government jobs of some low-level members of Saddam Hussein's former Baath party.

The outcome of the October elections is likely to reshape Iraq's political map.

Sunnis, who sat out 2005 elections, could claim a much stronger role in Iraqi political affairs. Already, Sunnis have provided critical help in security by joining the U.S.-led battles against al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgents.

Among Iraq's majority Shiites, the election could be an important test of strength for rival factions fighting for control of oil-rich southern Iraq.

The Bush administration hailed the laws' passage.

"Many said that Iraq's communities couldn't relate to each other. Their grievances, their distrusts were so profound, they couldn't reach fundamental compromises. Well, we've never believed that that was a correct assessment," David Satterfield, senior adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said in an interview with Associated Press Radio.

A joint statement in Baghdad by the U.S. Embassy and American forces "warmly" congratulated the Iraqis on the legislation and called it a "significant commitment to address important issues and find political bases on which to move forward."

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the legislation was "clearly a big deal, a big step."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/...n3826874.shtml

AP story at CBS more focused on the election part passed with a lil negativity of course.

DuH2 · #8 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 04:54 PM

For the US Presidential race-

Quote:

The new law _ which set the vote for Oct. 1

IOW Iraq is going to be holding regional elections making banner headlines around the world..purple fingers.....[u]1 month[/] or less then a month before the US election.

Democrats--"it was not worth it, I always opposed it, there is no success in Iraq, the Surge has not had any real affect, BS and more BS..."

Poor Democrats....

BillyBob · #9 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 04:56 PM

She is 'giving the finger' to democrats!

BillyBob · #10 (**permalink**) 02-14-2008, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMS

no, it was the primary reason.

No it wasn't.

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