Saddam Foes Now Lead New Iraqi Government

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Cementing Iraq's first democratic government in 50 years, one of Saddam Hussein's most implacable enemies took his oath as president Thursday and quickly named another longtime foe of the ousted dictator to the powerful post of prime minister.

The new government's main task will be to draft a permanent constitution and lay the groundwork for elections in December, although some worry that the two months of political wrangling taken up in forming the leadership hasn't left enough time.

The swearing-in ceremony came just two days short of the second anniversary of Baghdad's fall to U.S.-led forces and underlined the growing power and cooperation of the Shiite Arab majority and Kurdish minority _ groups that were long oppressed by Saddam's regime.

There were stumbles, though.

After his inaugural speech, interim President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, walked off the stage, and members of the National Assembly and onlookers began to disperse and television feeds were cut.

<snip>

http://www.clintonherald.com/articles/2005/04/07/ap/headlines/d89armj01.txt

[Emillereid]

1. Why do I fear for the lives of Iraq's new leaders?

Can they ever leave the Green Zone?

[Disturbed]

2. Maybe they could if...

they dressed like laborers and left in back of some raggedy truck.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Jafaari ran on a slate whose program includes

. . . setting a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops and rolling back a number of Bremer's decrees.

I'm a lot less jaded about Jafaari than I was about Allawi.

[LynnTheDem]

4. Talabani; Kurd war lord, US puppet.

Lebanonization?

But what's happened since January 30 is definitely not a good omen.

...

It's politics or civil war.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GD08Ak04.html