Iraqi parliament approves Cabinet

[muriel_volestrangler]

Iraq's parliament has approved a new government, including members of the main Shia, Kurd and Sunni parties.

But three crucial ministries - national security, interior and defence - have still been not agreed.

For now, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, a Shia, will run the interior ministry and deputy Prime Minister, Salam Zaubai, a Sunni, will run defence.
...
Before Mr Maliki could even begin announcing his team, the leader of the Dialogue party - the smaller of the two main Sunni factions - seized the microphone to complain about how negotiations over the distribution of roles had been conducted.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5000016.stm

At least I can't see Chalabi there. Apparently he was being considered:

Mr. Aaraji said the candidates for the Interior Ministry were Ahmad Chalabi, the former exile leader and former Pentagon favorite; Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's current national security adviser; and an unknown figure, Nasir al-Feyadh. All three candidates are Shiites.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html?_r=1&ex=1148184000&en=40c769bb5fb561b6&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

[Kagemusha]

1. Was? Interior hasn't been named yet, Chalabi's still in the running!

It's not over yet!

[enigma000]

2. Well, good luck and congratulations to all Iraqis!

I hope your new government makes wise decisions and fights for all Iraqis.

[rodeodance]

3. Iraqi Government Sworn in Amid Violence

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060520/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AjyXu3P8VfC4ck40fLYpJNCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Iraqi Government Sworn in Amid Violence

By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 54 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - After five months of often bitter wrangling over Cabinet posts,Iraq's unity government took office Saturday and vowed to fight the insurgency, restore stability and set the stage for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops.


The new permanent government resulting from December's elections in which 12 million Iraqis participated has been portrayed by Western officials as the best hope for changing the dynamics of violence in Iraq. But it must expand control and persuade insurgents, assassins and militias to stand down, with no guarantee of success.

As the Cabinet was sworn in, at least 33 people were killed in a series of attacks across Iraq, and police found the bodies of 22 Iraqis who apparently had been kidnapped and tortured by death squads that plague the capital and other areas.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the others on the 40-member Cabinet took the oath of office inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, where American and Iraqi troops provide security from the turmoil sweeping the country.

[rodeodance]

4. and Bush says 'freedom-loving nations' will help them.

President Bush, who is facing rising criticism at home over Iraq, welcomed the new Cabinet and promised continued U.S. help.

"Iraq's new leaders know the period ahead will be filled with great challenge," Bush said in a statement. "But they also know that they — and their great country — will not face them alone. The United States and freedom-loving nations around the world will stand with Iraq as it takes its place among the world's democracies and as an ally in the war on terror."

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad repeated U.S. cautions against expectations of a quick pullout of the 132,000-strong American military contingent. But, he added, "strategically, we're going to be moving in the direction of downsizing our forces."

Although Iraq has reached the final stage in the political transition promised by the United States after Saddam's ouster in 2003, its leaders have yet to resolve the core security issues.

[AnOhioan]

7. Bush refers to the US as a Democracy

Sorry there georgie-boy....the US democracy vanished back in 2001 when your illegitimate rule was enabled by the Supremes. Since then you and your cronies have stolen two more elections, allowed a terrorist strike on the US, invaded and occupied two countries under false pretenses, have been threatening multiple other countries, have done your best to make the UN irrelevant, have enriched yourselves and others by untold millions of dollars and have slid headlong into fascism.

Have we had enough yet??

[rodeodance]

5. Police also found the bodies of 22 people who had been tortured.

Elsewhere, a suicide bomber killed three civilians in the northern city of Mosul, gunmen killed an Iraqi military officer, his wife and son in Baqouba, a mortar shell exploded at a Sunni mosque and killed two people in the capital's Jihad neighborhood, and two blacksmiths were shot to death in central Baghdad.

Police also found the bodies of 22 people who apparently had been kidnapped and tortured, six in Baghdad, 15 in the southern city of Musayyib and one in nearby Hafriya. All appeared to be victims of death squads that have killed hundreds in sectarian violence, personal vendettas and kidnappings for ransom.

[louis-t]

6. I thought the dumbass said

things would get better just as soon as they got a real government in place. Oh, wait, he did. Now he says otherwise. Dumbass.

[bigdarryl]

8. Iraq government

Have they recognized the state of Israel?