Shiite-Kurdish Deal Collapses BREAKING NEWS

[Chicago Democrat]

BREAKING NEWS

Monday, March 14, 2005
Shiite-Kurdish Deal Collapses

Al-Hayat: The Shiite/Kurdish negotiations to form a government before parliament is seated on March 16 have fallen apart, apparently because the Kurds reneged on the deal they had worked out with the United Iraqi Alliance.

Al-Zaman reports that a high Kurdish official said that the process has never been closer to gridlock than now.

AFP said that Kurdish leaders insisted that the agreement reached recently between the Kurds and Shiites "needs reformulation and amendment." A Kurdish delegation will return to Baghdad soon to resume negotiations with the UIA.

Al-Hayat: The issues over which the deal collapsed include the disposition of the oil rich city of Kirkuk, demands that the Kurds have a bigger share of cabinet posts, the retention of the Kurdish paramilitary or peshmergas in the Kurdish regions, retention of a greater share of the petroleum revenues of the north, and the fears of the Kurds that the UIA will attempt to establish a theocracy. The Kurds insist on resolving all these issues in writing before the formation of a government.

http://juancole.com/

[mike_c]

1. what a surprising development....

Right.

[Chicago Democrat]

3. Juan Cole is On Majority Report RIGHT NOW, will definately

elaborate

[uppityperson]

2. Another corner turned, bah

Did anyone truly expect the Kurds to get any power?

[piece sine]

4. sure would like the BBC to back this up

something this big should be in the news, at least from international sources, don't yah think?

[Chicago Democrat]

6. Jaun Cole is our early warning system

If he says its true, its true

[regnaD kciN]

5. Gee, I guess this means...

...that we're just gonna have to stick around there until they sort this out.

:eyes:

[Boo Boo]

17. Yup.

And don't forget the Pottery Barn rule!

"Awww now ain't that a shame. Looks like we went and broke all this here Oil. Dang! Well, I guess we own it now. Darn that ol' Pottery Barn!"

[Endangered Specie]

7. Catastrophic Success?

(/sarcasm).

[seriousstan]

8. Is a blog LBN? I believe the rules state otherwise.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

16. Look, ma! I'm a journalist! n/t

[Gloria]

9. The "in writing" part has been the major bone of contention for

weeks.....if this is still the case, they sure haven't gotten very far at all.

[bemildred]

10. I guess "Trust me" isn't good enough.,

I can't see why the Kurds would feel that way ...

[VegasWolf]

11. Fuckin Bill Maher gave up to early AGAIN. First he caves in on

the war and admits he was wrong that the war would be a
quagmire because the tactical side of the war went so quickly. Now
he saying that Bush has caused all this wonderful stuff to
happen in the middle east because bush did what no sane
person would do. Boosh is not, will not, can not succeed. There
are damn good reasons why wiser men avoided boosh's path. Maher,
get some balls and hold to your convictions. Follow your instincts
about bush and you will see that you always knew what an idiot he is.

[MrPrax]

12. You Notice That As Well...

Maher isn't the only political 'celebrity' gadfly with two cents that fell for the 'democracy in our lifetime' bit... (Stewart mentioned this meme a few times, wondering out loud, 'what would a liberal DO if Bush was right!?)

I guess these folks are in negotiations as well, balancing 'what they can continue to do for power' and their fan emails and wondering which route will produce the best 'paycheck/relevance' balance...

My bet is on Hitchens--he might come back from the dead and do a 'Blinded by the Right' horse fall...his essay in Vanity about the Ohio vote is pretty damn good...Maher might figure it out.

[leesa]

13. Color me shocked.

[Bob3]

14. So once again the Kurds are in the way.

Sorry.

[randome]

20. Ha! Ha!

I got it if no one else did.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

15. Looks like they are going to do "democracy" pretty much the

same we some other superpower does democracy. Tsk, tsk.

[robertpaulsen]

18. Kick. Democracy is flourishing, MY ASS!

:kick:

[VegasWolf]

19. Wonder if Bill Maher is still praising Boosh for his genius. n/t