Who do
these guys think they are? They act like they represent the Iraqi people, or something. We'll let
them know when its time to withdraw.
Iraqi lawmakers from across the political spectrum called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from their country in a letter released to the media June 19.
More below the fold.
Eighty-two Shiite, Kurdish, Sunni Arab, Christian and communist deputies made the call in a letter sent by Falah Hassan Shanshal of the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the largest group in parliament, to speaker Hajem al-Hassani.
Some of those who signed urged that a detailed timetable be established for the withdrawal.
In the letter, Shanshal said the 275-member parliament was the Iraqi people's legitimate representative and guardian of their interests.
"We have asked in several sessions for occupation troops to withdraw," the letter said. "Our request was ignored."
"It is dangerous that the Iraqi government has asked the U.N. Security Council to prolong the stay of occupation forces without consulting representatives of the people who have the mandate for such a decision.
"Therefore we must reject the occupation's legitimacy and renew our demand for these forces to withdraw," the letter added.
The U.N. Security Council agreed on May 31 to extend the mandate of multinational forces in Iraq "until the completion of the political process" following a request from the Iraqi government.
These guys aren't reading their lines. They are supposed to be telling us how wonderful it is to be occupied by a military power. If they don't learn their lines they just might become victims of "friendly fire".
But that isn't the only interesting news coming out of Iraq today.
It turns out that the Iraq war costs are about to
exceed the Korean War.
Lawmakers in the United States were scheduled to vote on Monday to approve $45 billion US in additional funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, making the recent Middle East foray more expensive than the entire Korean War.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress has approved $350 billion, mostly for combat and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The amount, which includes $82 billion approved last month, is equal to the total amount in today's dollars spent on the Korean conflict from 1950-53.[...]
And lastly, we have a little news about that WMDs that were never found. It turns out that
it was a laughable assertion to begin with.
A key Foreign Office diplomat responsible for liaising with UN inspectors says today that claims the government made about Iraq's weapons programme were "totally implausible".
He tells the Guardian: "I'd read the intelligence on WMD for four and a half years, and there's no way that it could sustain the case that the government was presenting. All of my colleagues knew that, too".
Carne Ross, who was a member of the British mission to the UN in New York during the run-up to the invasion, resigned from the FO last year, after giving evidence to the Butler inquiry.
He thought about publishing his testimony because he felt so angry. But he was warned that if he did he might be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act. [...]