Iraqi parliament votes on US troops (AFP) Al Jazeera, Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Iraqi politicians have passed a resolution requiring the government to seek parliamentary permission before asking the UN to extend the mandate for US-led forces in Iraq. The measure was approved on Tuesday and reflects a growing disenchantment with the US-backed government.
Legislators loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr support the resolution.The Sadrist-drafted resolution passed with a vote of 85 to 59.
This is the second time the Iraqi Parliament has voted on the same or a similar bill but this bill actually says the government must come to the Parliament after December (the end of the present troop extension request by al Maliki) and convince them to issue another. This means al Maliki and Talibana can no longer unilaterally say "we need the Americans and they must stay for stability.)
The article states that Sunni groups allied with the al Sadr bloc in the parliament and also with a few other Shiite groups which are in conflict with al Maliki to approve the resolution. Democracy in action but not the kind the Bushies want to see. al Sadr has come out of hiding and is making his presence felt right away. Now Bush said just a few weeks ago that "we will be there as long as the government of Iraq wants us to be." I wonder what he is going to say now.?
Ryan Crocker, the new ambassador to Iraq was on NPR this morning talking about how Americans don't understand the stage that Iraq is in and how it will take a lot of time and effort to stabilize and build it up. Petraeus, the surge architect, said on Monday that "the surge hasn't really started. All the troops aren't here yet. Give us some time." It seems that he is backing off the "we should know by September" rhetoric he was spewing all over the place when he was covering Bush backside after the escalation was announced. Now you have Gates yesterday prodding the government to get a move on. Ha. Ha. It is really about to get crazy now.